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Gas revolution: Nigeria tackles infrastructure challenges
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Daily | Weekly | Monthly | Yearly 103.11US
A Vanguard Monthly Review Of The Energy IndustryDECEMBER, 2011VOL 02 N0. 31
19
ndia's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, MRPL, I
has bought 1.3 million barrels of West African crude oil for loading in January and February via tender, trade sources said on Thursday. MRPL bought 650,000 barrels of Nigerian Escravos crude oil for January lifting from Chevron at a premium of about $3.00 over dated Brent on an fob basis, they said. The Indian refiner also bought 650,000 barrels of Coco, a crude oil produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Shell for lifting in February at a premium of about $5.00 over dated Brent on a cost plus freight basis, they said.
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‘Gas plans will translate to huge economic wealth’
‘Gas plans will translate to huge economic wealth’
14
Oando commissions 128 Km gas pipelines
COVER
OIL
FOCUS
FEEDBACK
Contents
EDITORHector IGBIKIOWUBO
CORRESPONDENTS
Printed and Published byVanguard Media Limited.Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri
Canal, P.M.B. 1007,Apapa.
Internet:www.vanguardngr.com
All correspondence: P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos.
41010
1414
2020
3434
GROUP BUSINESS EDITOROmoh GABRIEL
PAGE LAYOUT/DESIGN Francis AYO & Johnbull OMOREGBEE
FINANCE
2
Victor AHIUMA-YOUNGFavour NnabugwuGodwin ORITSE
GAS1919
POWER2121
Yemie ADEOYEJimitota ONOYUME
Samuel OYANDOGHAOscarline Onwuemenyi
Emma Arubi
Enquiries Call:08051100256
3838
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
3535 INSURANCE
LABOUR
4949
Awaiting maritime hub status
CBN advocates blueprint on mining investments
Abandon project: FG calls for technical viabilities
“Gas plans will translate to huge economic wealth
NPA to sanction vessel owners over explosion
Ecopetro earmarks $8.48bn for 2012 capex
“Subsidy removal is diversionary”
4545
4242
WPC announces finalists for excellence ward
FREIGHT
4848 TECHNOLOGY
SOLID MINERALS
Sweetcrude is a publication of Vanguard Media Limited
Gas Revolution: Nigeria tackles infrastructure challenges
Oando commissions 128km gas pipeline
DEPUTY EDITORClara Nwachukwu
THE TEAM
“We collaborating with stakeholders to fight fake insurers”
Natural gas: Importance and uses
Niger Delta: Shell spends N9bn on development projects
ig mo a h v neria’s st ut oritati e E ergy d t magaz e, w c u
In us ry in S eet r de,N d u an t will eb t in gr d style at he 20thorld et ol m Co g s
W P r eu n res , WPC.a e D h t h
We r in o a with its 31s edition, whic oc es n h ar t N tf us o ow f he igerian governmen e ea a f a has gone with th r lis tion o progr mmesin it G evo t
s as R lu ion in line with ourob t ur s
jective, o s pport government’s effo t tot ac m e or ec ves en , ,at r t or F eign Dir t In tm t FDI hto t e sector. h r c t ec r as
T e G oup Exe u ive Dir to , G and r an Na na et e m
Power, Nige i tio l P rol u C po t , PC, r. avid g s or ra ion NN D D I e, peakse y e ea t gh r ed
xtensivel on th br k hrou s ecordy ea o in
so far, especiall in the ar of pr vid g b e f tr u a gal isback on in ras uct re th t will van e er in o r enNig ia t becoming the egional ergy bhu .A f l d d
part rom our detai e an well-in t ep r s N s gves igated r o t on igeria’ Ener y s y a d , h t ac iv d t
indu tr , n indeed t e Ex r t e In us ry t t e val e ve s tand he en ir u chain, we ha al o kep ait wit r egu r ep r ag . A r lf h h ou r la r o t e cco ding y, e g pd t d evel w brin you u a es an d opments in Fin e, I c e h c g
anc nsuran e, Fr ig t, Te hnolo y ando y D opmen .C mmunit evel t
l pa rsh p t h CA so, our rtne i wi h t e WC s r he Nig r il d , GAs ociates fo t e ia O an Gas NO 2 In na r ce201 , ternatio l Confe en and h l e, an u e Ex ibition is still in p ac d we rg allin r ayer n ec iv ves r o
dust y pl s a d prosp t e in to s tta advan age m of e ed inke t of the ileage f r
c t t h c dSweet rude o adver ise t eir produ ts an e es h glo it s rvic to t e bal commun y.
4Cover Story
CONTINUES ON PAGE 5
President Goodluck Jonathan
CLARA NWACHUKWU & OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI
Wh e n
Pres ident Goodluck E b e l e J o n a t h a n
launched Nigeria’s Gas Revolution in March this year, many may have thought it would be another one of those “ whi te e lephant dreams”. But one year on, the Federal Government has shown its resolve to ensure that the revolution, aided by the Gas Master Plan becomes a rea l i t y th rough the provision of infrastructure.
Taking the infrastructure developments in phases, government aims to fast track the monetisation of the nation’s gas resources, instituting a gas based industrialisation as well as increasing the generation capacity of the power sector, t o e n s u r e s u s t a i n a b l e electr ici ty delivery for domestic and industrial uses.
Very few nations can boast of the resources the country has, both natural and human. The country ’s resource endowments leave it with no excuse for the relatively high rate of unemployment and under-industrialisation.
The need to diversify revenue sources away from just oil makes it imperative for government to fast track the deve lopment o f la tent resources for the growth of the economy.
A l t h o u g h N i g e r i a ’ s commercial oil is over 50 years, the discovery of huge gas resources, estimated at about 187 trillion cubic feet proven gas reserves, coupled with about 600 trillion cubic feet undiscovered potential, make industry watchers describe Nigeria more of a gas province than oil.
This discovery and the need to match words with action spurred government to embark on infrastructure development - through the planned construction of gas pipelines that will supply gas to the thermal power plants in
the Niger Delta and western Nigeria; the approvals for Free Trade Zones, FTZs; and the planned construction of v a r i o u s f e r t i l i s e r s ,
petrochemicals and methanol plants in specific locations in the Niger Delta.
T h e s e a r e b e i n g implemented mostly through
private pubic partnerships, P P P, w i t h a v i e w t o “Repositioning Nigeria as the regional hub for gas based industrialisation, through which the country will add value to its natural gas and create a broad platform for aggressive industrialisation,” according to the Minister of Petroleum, M r s . D i e z a n i A l i s o n -Madueke.
Implementation of agendaR e i t e r a t i n g t h e
commitment to see the gas revolution to fruition, the Group Executive Director, Gas Development, at the Nigerian National Oil Corporation, NNPC, Dr. David Ige, told Sweetcrude that once government was done with the provision of backbone infrastructure, inves tments wi l l s tar t springing up across the country. In this regard, he disclosed that a number of contracts have either been approved or undergoing tender in each phase of the development.
Infrastructure development in the area of power include the I tok i - Olor unshogo Pipeline to supply gas to the Olorunshogo Power Plant and the environs; Alaoji Pipeline for the Alaoji Power Plant both to be completed in six months; doubling the capacity of the Lagos-Escravos Pipeline from one billion standard cubic feet,
Construction of a 504M Gas Turbine Power Station in simple cycle configuration
Drilling Rig
5Cover Story
CONTINUES ON PAGE 6
SCF, per day to two billion scf/d, to be completed by end 2012; the Rumuoji-Obigbo-Imo River Pipeline, and a host of many others.
According to Ige, these pipelines are meant “to bridge the gap between excess gas availability in East, shortage in the West, and significantly boost gas availability to the power sector.”
I n t h e a r e a o f industrialization, he said that approval has been given for the construction of the Koko free Trade Zone, which will be s u p p o r t e d w i t h a 4 0 -kilometer pipeline that will f e e d t h e f e r t i l i z e r , petrochemical and methanol plants to be located there.
He said the objective is to make Koko, “a gas based industrial city, the biggest of its kind south of Sub-Saharan Africa.”
He added that government also plans to set up another industrial hub in Akwa Ibom and Calabar with the location of fertilizer and methanol plants, and in the Rivers axis, “issued the gas purchase order for two fertilizer plants, and methanol plant around the Onne Free Trade Zone area.”
Ige explained that these developments are targeted at “c rea t ing an enabl ing environment that will reduce the risks that the people face, and we phased the activities
Nigeria tackles infrastructure challengesCONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
in a manner that reduces the risks of the projects and s h o r e s i n v e s t o r s ’ confidence.”
Investment opportunitiesW i t h a l l o f t h e s e
infrastructures coming on stream, Ige argued that investment opportunities abound in the areas of:
·Pipelines for gas gathering and distribution
· C e n t r a l p r o c e s s i n g facilities to optimize gas resources
·Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG for domestic and export
· C i v i l a n d p o r t s infrastructures at the FTZs
Industry reformsS i n c e t h e r e t u r n o f
democratic rule in the c o u n t r y, N i g e r i a h a s embarked on a number of fundamental reforms of its energy industry, thus, setting the stage for exponential growth in the economy.
Some of these reforms and policies include efforts to halt
militancy in the Niger Delta t h r o u g h t h e A m n e s t y Programme, the signing of the Nigerian Content Act in April, the launch of the Gas Master Plan, instituting an incentive-driven gas pricing for manufacturers, approval for the construction of four refineries across the country by Chinese inves to rs , signaling an end to the wasteful era of exporting crude to other countries and impor t ing the re f ined petroleum products as well the development of a road map for the development of the power sector.
During this period, a lot of works have been done to reform the legal apparatus of the petroleum industry with the formulation of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, which seeks to overhaul the management of oil and gas resources in the country.
P r e s i d e n t J o n a t h a n described the Gas Revolution as the Rebirth of Nigeria’s Industrialisation, and vital for the diversification of the economy and for national development.
“This aspiration to re-
industrialise Nigeria is aggressive and can only be a c h i e v e d t h r o u g h a revolution. The focus is to c a t a l y s e a m a j o r industrialisation of the country by seeding in a few anchor investments that have the highest potential to have far reaching secondary multiplier effect on the economy,” he said during the launch.
Jonathan reassured the investors notably, Xenel of Saudi Arabia, Nagarjuna of India and Chevron Nigeria L i m i t e d , C N L , o f government’s readiness to provide the necessarily support, including the quick passage of the PIB, which serves as an anchor for sustainable and profitable investment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
The President hoped that by 2014, Nigeria would have been positioned firmly as the undisputed regional hub for gas based industries. “We would by then, be producing enough fertilizer to create a self sufficient country and a net exporter of fertilizer and food to the world. We would be the leading regional centre for petrochemical production and manufacture of petrochemical related products both for local and export use,” he added.
Indigenous triumphA l e a d i n g N i g e r i a n
indigenous oil company, the Oando Group, recently made history with the successful comple t ion o f a 128-kilometre gas pipeline system from Akwa Ibom to Cross River State, built by one of its subsidiaries, Oando Gas and Power.
A l i s o n - M a d u e k e , immediately announced that the inauguration of the p r o j e c t m a r k e d t h e successful take-off of the gas revolution programme of the Federal Government.
Speaking during the inaugurat ion, Oando ’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu, said the pipeline was built under a joint venture ar rangement wi th the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, a subsidiary of the NNPC. He disclosed that the 18-inch pipeline would accelerate industrialisation in the South-south region by providing cheaper, safer, Kanji Dam
6Cover Story
cleaner and environmentally friendly fuel to industries in the region.
Tinubu said his company pioneered the private sector pipeline and distribution of natural gas to industrial and commercial consumers in Nigeria.
Alison-Madueke said the completion of the project marked the successful take-off of the gas revolution programme of the Federal Government, which targets a $ 2 5 b i l l i o n w o r t h o f investment, and would generate about $10 billion over the next three years. According to her, over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created from the Oando gas project and other similar projects contained in the gas revolution agenda.
Speaking with Sweetcrude on the sidelines of the launch, the minister disclosed that ongoing pipeline projects are estimated to cost about $2 billion.
According to her, the President has “a strong vision a n d p a s s i o n t o r e -
industrialise Nigeria using the vast natural resources that the country is so richly endowed with. Mr. President is determined to ensure that the efficient and effective utilisation of our natural gas resources wi l l impac t positively on the lives of every Nigerian.”
She added that the Federal government’s gas agenda, both domestic and export, clearly paves the way for Nigeria to be a regional leader with all the attendant benefits.
“ T h a t a g e n d a w i l l n e c e s s i t a t e a n unprecedented growth in our gas supply, from the current one billion cubic feet per day to over 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2020. Realising this growth calls for a radical review of how the nationwide gas potential is harnessed,” she said.
She further noted that in order to grow the gas industry at the envisioned pace, there must be flexibility i n o u r g a s r e s o u r c e development and supply base. “This calls for the strategic development of various inland basins, in
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 addition to the Niger Delta and offshore basins. Over the next five years, we will be prioritising about $1 billion for further seismic data gathering, aeromagnetic surveys, exploration and appra i sa l d r i l l ing . By enhancing the prospectivity of these basins, we hope to build significant supply bases across the various geopolitical zones that complement the existing gas supply centres in the Niger Delta,” she added.
Economic revivalPart of the agenda is to
make the petrochemical project alone the largest industrial complex in Africa, p r o d u c i n g o v e r 1 5 0 containers worth of products. These products will enable the growth of numerous d o w n s t r e a m p l a s t i c manufacturing industries. With these, secondary industries such as the high end printed circuit boards, car dashboards etc. can be established here in Nigeria.
The spiral effect of such a h u g e p l a n t i s t h e r e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d expansion of the port facilities near the plant
locations. This will create a hub o f economic and commercial activity around the hither-to quiet port towns.
The fertilizer plants and their customized blending plants will result in a radical
t r ans fo r mat ion o f the n a t i o n ’ s a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i v i t y f r o m subsistence farming to full scale industrial farming. The concept of customized b l e n d i n g p l a n t s a s introduced by this project will ensure that the fertilizer is formulated to suit the type of soil in the zone resulting in enhanced productivity. Also, increased productivity will lead to the establishment of many agro process ing industries to cope with the production growth that will emerge.
B e y o n d t h e s p e c i f i c projects being launched in the initiative, it is expected that the various gas pipeline projects will revive the many tex t i le indus t r ies and numerous other industries in the North, which have hitherto shut down as a result of high energy costs. Natural gas will replace fuel oil as fuel for industrial boilers.
Wealth creationIndustry experts estimate
t h a t o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 engineering design and construction related jobs would be created from 2012 and beyond to deliver all these plants. Engineers will be required to participate in t h e d e s i g n o f t h e petrochemical, fertilizer, central processing facilities and numerous pipeline projects.
Local fabrication yards will need to gear up capacity to p r o v i d e r e l e v a n t c o n s t r u c t i o n s u p p o r t . Skilled workers such as welders, fitters etc. will also be required. The civil construction effort required both onshore and at the ports
Clusters of gas pipeline
7Cover Story
will impact on demand for cement.
Government said the strategy adopted for the fertilizer project, for instance, means it would expect a signif icant increase in e m p l o y m e n t f r o m t h e agricultural sector. In total this initiative will result in over 500,000 direct and i n d i r e c t j o b s f r o m construction, logistics, hotel and hospitality service, fabrication, banking and above all agriculture.
As government delivers the LPG agenda, there will be a boost in the disposable income of households as cheaper fue l becomes available. In particular, women in smal l scale catering business will benefit significantly from the relative cheapness of LPG.
Nigerian Content lawThis initiative provides a
test bed to actualise the intent of the Nigerian Content Act which was signed into law by P r e s i d e n t G o o d l u c k Jonathan last year. Before
the re fo r ms , p rev ious governments paid lip service to the development of local content, which led to the loss of over 85 percent of in-count r y jobs to o ther countries.
However, it is expected that the full application of the Law will stimulate these jobs and opportunities, and a significant portion of the jobs created will be for Nigerians. The nation’s service sector should benefit significantly from these opportunities.
According to the President, “When we are done we would have created a Nigeria that we all would be proud of. Our youths can clearly see the roadmap to engagement and self worth as they get gainfully employed. This is not just a plan, this is now in action.”
The PIB nightmareHowever, observers fear
that this economic revolution may be jeopardised by the delay in the passage of the PIB. Indeed, hopes of a quick passage for the bill, which has been de layed fo r upwards of three years at the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 National Assembly, may have b e e n d a s h e d b y t h e inglorious politicking in the legislature, and matters may get worse as the new legislature, in the habit of the last, continue to thumb its nose at the PIB.
The impasse in the federal legislature has not been he lped by the ob tuse racketeering by various stakeholders including the NNPC, the international oil companies, IOCs, and even t h e o r g a n i s e d l a b o u r organisations.
Experts believe that the long delay in the passage of the bill has blocked billions of dollars worth of investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. For instance, the Royal Dutch Shell said it put aside $40 billion worth of potential investment in deepwater oil projects on hold as it awaits the outcome of the bill. Other oil majors like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Texaco, ENI and Total, all consolidated their positions b y f r o w n i n g a t s o m e provisions in the PIB.
A f o r m e r R e g i o n a l
Polyolefin plant
Executive Vice President of Shel l Explorat ion and Production, Africa, Ms. Ann Pickard, had lamented the “failure to recognise that we all benefit from taking a fair share of a growing industry rather than an excessive share of a declining one; an unwillingness by some to stand up and take decisions.”
P r e s i d e n t J o n a t h a n , obviously bothered by the protracted delay in the passage of the PIB, was effusive with thanks to Saudi Arabia, India, Italy and the USA, noting that, “Your decision to invest in Nigeria is a testament of the confidence you have both in our vision and our resources. I assure you that as you have taken the bold step to invest, even when many things hinge on passage of the PIB; government will support you every step of the way to ensure that this is delivered s u c c e s s f u l l y . Y o u r commitment will serve as a challenge to other investors elsewhere, letting them know that Nigeria is indeed open for business.”
SHELL
SHELL
Oil 10
igerian CONTENT INITIATIVECONTENT INITIATIVECONTENT INITIATIVECONTENT INITIATIVE
Dr. Ibilola Amao
Every three years t h e W o r l d P e t r o l e u m C o u n c i l r e c o g n i z e s
some of the most outstanding projects and innovations in the oil and gas sector with the WPC Excellence Awards, WPCEA, for Technological Development and Social Responsibility.
The theme of this year’s conference is : Energy Solutions for All - Promoting Cooperation, Innovation and Investment, and will hold at the Qatar National Convention Centre, between December 4 and 8, 2011
HE Abdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Amiri
Diwan of Qatar, will be presenting the prestigious awards to the WPC EA winners on Monday, 5th December, the first day of the 20th World Petroleum Congress in Doha, Qatar. This is the first time the Congress is coming to the Middle East and it is already setting new records with 5000 delegates, 500 CEOs and 50 ministers expected.
Pierce Riemer, Director General, of the World Petroleum Council, was delighted with the high standard of submissions: “We recognize companies engaged in the oil and gas industry for promoting or o p e r a t i n g w i t h h i g h
excellence standards with the WPC Excellence Awards and we have been impressed with the high level of the nominated projects. With over 100 submissions the independent judging panel had an extremely difficult task selecting the best projects.”
W P C E A f o r S o c i a l Responsibility – Finalists (alphabetically by company)
All the projects selected by the judges will be showcased during the 20th World Petroleum Congress on Monday December 5, 2011 at the Digital Poster Plaza (HALL 8) between 14:30 to 16:00.
T h e Wo r l d Pe t r o l e u m Congress consists of a 5-day congress, the largest of its kind in the world with 5000 delegates, 600 media and over 550 presenters. Held alongside the congress and in the same venue is the exhibition of the World Petroleum Congress. It features exhibits from the national committees of the World Petroleum Council where the most prestigious n a t i o n a l o i l a n d g a s companies and agencies of the world are present. It also f ea tu res a l l the mos t important international oil and gas companies in the world alongside the key
suppliers, service companies and manufacturers. This is the only existing global exhibition dedicated to the oil, gas and energy industry.
About the World Petroleum CouncilThe World Petroleum Council was founded in London in 1933. It is an international, unbiased, non-poli t ical organisation that provides a forum for discussing world issues facing the oil and gas indus t r y. The WPC i s dedicated to scienti f ic advances in the oil and gas indus t r ies , t echno logy transfer and the promotion of the management of the world’s petroleum resources for the benefit of mankind.
Every three years, the World Petroleum Council hosts an international oil and gas congress hosted by one of its member countries. The 20th World Petroleum Congress will take place in Qatar from the 4-8 December 2011 and will be the first time the Congress comes to the Middle East in its 75 year history.
Tr e n d s a n d o u t l o o k s integral to the future success of the industry are the focus of discussions, forums and presentations. Delegates e x p l o r e i n t e r n a t i o n a l business opportunit ies, exchange ideas on global issues, network.
I was so busy last year with the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas
Industry Content Development Act that I did not see or smell any
international airport in 2010. I resorted to conducting all our businesses
through email, skype, phone calls and scheduled meetings with
international partners and customers that were visiting Nigeria. It made
a lot of sense to focus on internal and national issues. This year, I have
had to travel by compulsion and I have been subjected to the deplorable
state of our airports which is fast becoming a nightmare.
Some of the requirements of Nigerian Content are Capacity building
through partnerships, training, research and development etc requires
setting up facilities in-country and engaging experts to put things
together and commission facilities. In-country human capital
development specialist programmes, such as: gas conditioning, gas
processing, pipelines and Subsea engineering etc., require foreign
facilitators. I feel pained by what we subject ourselves as Nigerians and
our foreign guests to at the international airports. Surely, we are not
animals. Why should I land at an airport that has no functional air-
conditioning? Why should casualties be caused by a dysfunctional
escalator at MM International Airport? Why should the carousels fail
and cause undue hardship for those waiting for their luggage whilst
some employees have to manually move suitcases? I worked it out. It is
either that the Ministers of Aviation and Transport have been too busy to
spring a surprise inspection on the team at the international airports, all
the maintenance staff at MMA have been sacked or are on retirement,
there is a faulty reporting system, diesel supply is an issue, the
generators that can power the air-conditioning are faulty, the air
conditioners are faulty and we have not got the foggiest idea of the
volume of traffic that use the airport vis-à-vis the design capacity of the
airport.
Whilst Nigerians in diaspora lambasted the minister in absentia,
moaned and groaned about how bad Nigeria is, I did request that we all
shut up our mouths because our talking for the past umpteen years has
not yielded much result. I enjoined all the complainers that I managed to
speak with to do something no matter how small so that we see the
difference that is much required. Hopefully, this piece would be read by
someone who can either escalate the problem or do something about the
pathetic situation that our international airport has found itself in.
Can our President and his Ministers invest our money in the upgrade
of the primary international airports which are no longer fit-for-purpose
as well as fix the major roads that transport equipments and supplies?.
When would there be an extension to the airport? Since the amount
charged in taxes is astronomical, why can’t the government put this
income in to some good use and invest it in providing a better service to
its customers (the airline companies and us passengers)?. We can not
afford to treat ourselves as animals. How do we expect to be respected
by any foreigner who goes through a dysfunctional airport? Our
government officials from the presidency to the governors jet out
routinely to foreign countries soliciting for investors very un-mindful of
what first impression these investors would have of Nigeria passing
through our airports: the structure; the equipments; the facilities and
most critically the attitude of airport officials?
Now back to Nigerian Content, what infrastructure, conducive
environment for investment and logistics must be in place as a minimum
requirement for efficient implementation of the Act? Is NCDMB aware
of these on-going pains and how it is impacting on the bottom line of the
relevant stakeholders? I am proposing that the Minister of aviation and
transport respectively read out the riot act to the appropriate personnel
and bodies and ensures that rather than return money to the coffers of
Government at the end of the year that appropriate and published
expenditure be undertaken to alleviate the pain and frustration of all
international and local travellers. We can not afford to continue with the
lackadaisical manner in which we run facilities that are dilapidated
without scheduled maintenance programmes. We can not afford to loose
valuable lives on the express and motorways because someone has not
done their job or money has been embezzled. Cry my beloved country
because we are no longer at ease and I am worried that the centre is no
longer able to hold. We really need help. If we can put the time and effort
expended in planning parties, awards and conferences into strategic
thinking, planning, project execution and implementation we all would
be the better for it. Fundamental to Nigerian Content implementation is
good, focussed, proactive and functioning leadership.
Oil 11
Queue for kerosene
CLARA NWACHUKWU
Stat Marine, International Energy seal deal
rench multinational, Stat Marine Holding, has F
s i g n e d a p a r t n e r s h i p agreement with International Energy Services Limited, IESL, as part of the drive to h a r n e s s l o c a l c o n t e n t opportunities in the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector.
Stat Marine, currently operating in France, UK, USA, and Angola is a specialist in offshore engineering and t e c h n i c a l c o n s u l t a n c y, embracing subsea inspection a n d m o n i t o r i n g , f l o w m a n a g e m e n t o p e r a t i n g philosophy and procedures, s u b s e a s y s t e m d e s i g n ( s t r u c t u r e a n d hydrodynamics), fabrication and installation supervision, as well as marine renewable energy (foundation design installation and maintenance and inspection).
I n t e r n a t i o n a l E n e r g y Services on its part is a well known indigenous oil and gas services company engaged in oil and gas engineering designs, project management and supervision, technical s e r v i c e s a n d f a c i l i t y m a i n t e n a n c e , Q H S E , c o n s u l t a n c y a n d environmental/analytical laboratory services, solar and renewable energy design and ins ta l la t ion as wel l as t e c h n i c a l r e c r u i t m e n t , manpower development and training.
T h e d e a l g i v e s b o t h companies the owning of Stat Marine Nigeria Limited, STMNL, and will provide the opportunity to generate new businesses, excite growth, as well as build new client relationships through shared m a r k e t i n g e f f o r t s , c o m p l e m e n t e d b y S t a t Marine’s global reach and worldwide relationships, to be combined with IESL local presence and excel lent capabilities, and ensure excellent technical training of personnel in new products and technologies in the offshore production facilities.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement between Stat Marine and International Energy, Mr. Luc Delclos, President, Stat Marine, said that the company decided to team up with IESL as part of its initiative to work with a proactive Nigerian company to grow their business and transfer technology to a local company.
Delclos further said the agreement demonstrates the company’s support for the local content policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
For a short while,
many Nigerians
had some reprieve
w i t h t h e
availability and
price of kerosene with the
advent o f the Niger ian
N a t i o n a l P e t r o l e u m
Corporation, NNPC, and
Capital Oil and Gas Industries
Kero Direct, programme.
Hitherto, not only was the
product very scarce leading to
high levels of trees felling, price
also shot to the roof, selling for
as high as between N150 and
N250 per litre depending on
the outlet and location.
However, the reprieve is now
short-lived, as scarcity is
gradually creeping back and
with price rising again, which
many households see as an
o m e n i n v i e w o f t h e
forthcoming Yuletides.
Sweetcrude learnt that this is
because the NNPC/Capital Oil
Kero Direct, which was a huge
success while it was on, may
have been hijacked by industry
cabals, who also wanted a piece
of the pie.
At the peak of the kerosene
s c a r c i t y , t h e F e d e r a l
Government had ordered the
M i n i s t r y o f Pe t r o l e u m
Resources, to crash the price of
kerosene and also make the
product available to Nigerians
who depend on it for most o
their energy needs.
The ministry with the
assistance of the NNPC Retail
Limited, in conjunction with
C a p i t a l O i l , a m a j o r
downstream player reputed to
have the single largest private
depot and storage facility in
sub-Sahara Africa, devised the
direct sales to households.
Through the support of the
various local government
councils in each state where it
was launched, Nigerians were
able to buy kerosene at the
government approved price of
N50/litre. The project kicked
off in July, as a pilot scheme to
address the lingering kerosene
scarcity across the country.
Under the scheme, the
Pipel ines and Products
Marketing Company, PPMC, a
subsidiary of the NNPC
provided the product to be sold
to end users through the use of
Capital Oil ultra modern
dispensing trucks.
The direct sales scheme,
which commenced in Lagos,
was extended to other states
including Anambra, Kaduna,
Imo and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, and was billed
to go round the country until
the cabals came in.
it was gathered that some
cabals within the NNPC, who
were not happy that the
scheme was not kept within
the fold began to frustrate the
project, and caused the
stoppage of supply to Capital
Oil depots for onward sales to
the public, thereby truncating
the scheme.
However, the Managing
Director of Capital oil, Mr.
Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, could not
be reached to speak on the
issue, as a senior management
official in his company
confirmed to Sweetcrude that
he was away on studies
abroad.
He said, “My MD (Ubah) is
on course abroad, he will soon
be back to the country to
answer your questions; I am
not competent to speak on it.”
It would be recalled that
Ubah said he had acquired
seven large barges and five tug
boats, to ensure the success of
the schemes. “Capital Oil has
been very concerned about the
difficulty in getting kerosene
for domestic use. It is in
response to this that the
company came up with this
innovation of deploying mobile
filling stations with standard
dispensing pumps to deliver
kerosene at official price of N50
per litre to Nigerians. The
scheme will afford our people
greater access to the product
with a view to reducing the use
of charcoal and fire woods,
which are hazardous to
health.”
Furthermore, at the launch of
the programme, the NNPC had
promised to provide the
product to all Nigerians across
t h e c o u n t r y . N N P C ’ s
spokesman, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma
had said: “Our determination
to arrest this artificial challenge
in the distribution of kerosene
to Nigerians is total. What we
are doing here today is to
guarantee that the product gets
to the end user at the right time
and correct price of N50 per
litre.”
Oil 12
YEMIE ADEOYE
Ahead of the f o r t h c o m i n g C h r i s t m a s festivity and the envisaged
heavy movement of people fo r the ho l idays , the N i g e r i a n N a t i o n a l Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has stepped up fuel supply to the Federal Capital Territory Abuja and across the country to meet emands.
T h e G r o u p G e n e r a l Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the news of alleged resurgence of fuel queues around Abuja.
He explained that the observed panic-induced fuel queues in Abuja have nothing to do with shortage in supply of petroleum products and that marketers and private depot owners are being adequately supplied with products.
“As at today, the PPMC has stepped up supply of products to Abuja and
NNPC building, Abuja
environs from the normal 150 trucks per day to 224 trucks. This s i tuation wil l be sustained from now through the period of Christmas and New Year festivities till January. I can assure you there is no shortage of PMS or any other petroleum product now or in the foreseeable future as the
PPMC has a 54-day fuel sufficiency in strategic reserve,” Ajuonuma stated.
He said the complaints by some marketers that they could not lift products over the weekend because the officials of the Petroleum Equalization Fund, PEF, were not available for inspection as a result of a
purported strike by staff of the agency was found not to be the case as the Executive Secre tar y o f PEF has confirmed that the staff of the agency did not at anytime embark on strike.
The NNPC spokesman warned fuel station owners and private depot owners to shun any activity that could breach the effective supply and dispensing of products to members of the public, adding that anyone caught hoarding products or not dispensing products from all i t s p u m p s w i l l b e appropriately sanctioned.
Ajuonuma said NNPC was working in concert with other relevant agencies to ensure that petroleum products get to the end users at approved prices.
He urged members of the public to desist from panic buying as there are enough products to go round even at the peak of demand as envisaged in the upcoming end of year festive season.
He called on stakeholders to avoid speculating on deregulation as government will make a pronouncement on it in due course.
… PEFMB moves to enhance products distribution during YuletideYEMIE ADEOYE
he Petro leum E q u a l i s a t i o n F u n d M a n a g e m e n t Board, PEFMB, T
has evolved measures to enhance the loading and transportation of petroleum products in anticipation of the increased demand during the Christmas holidays and end-of year-travel periods.To this end, the board has constituted task forces to accelerate the processing and payment of marketers, as contained in a statement
issued by the Agency spokesman, Mr. Goody Nnadi, and made available to Sweetcrude in Lagos.It reads in part: “Also, the Board is collaborating with the marketing companies and other agencies to mitigate any hindrances to effective service delivery at all distribution facilities. In addition, high level staff are being dispatched to the depots to ensure hitch-free l o a d i n g o f p e t r o l e u m products by marketers.“Furthermore, the Board has constituted task forces to
accelerate the processing and payment of marketers’ bridging and equalization claims to enable them move more products. The task forces drawn from the depots will be an addition to other regular staff permanently engaged in the processing of claims.”Nnadi stated further that these measures are intended to speed up, and guarantee e f f i c i e n t s u p p l y a n d distribution of petroleum products across the nation.“The Board will like to clarify that its staff have not
embarked on any strike as reported in a section of the media, rather, some members of the union sympathetic to the Branch Chairman who was disciplined for gross misconduct refused to carry out their regular duties. This led to the picketing of our Lagos office by non members of staff of the organisation.”H e a l s o d e n i e d t h e insinuations that the Branch Chairman of PENGASSAN was suspended for any other reason than gross official misconduct, saying that the Board reserved the right.
Oil 13
Modern oil well used for oil field exploration
NNENNA EZEAH
Afren Nigeria has
r e c o r d e d a
s i g n i f i c a n t
advancement in
its Ebok project
where production is ramping
u p a n d t h e P h a s e 2
development is on track for
production by year end.
The update was made
following a visit to Lagos and
the company’s Ebok project by
a delegation of international
analysts including those from
Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch
and Alliance Bernstein, who
were escorted by Afren Plc
Chief Executive Officer, Mr.
Osman Shahenshah, and
Afren Nigeria Managing
D i r e c t o r, M r. Ad e b a y o
Ayorinde.
Speaking in Lagos, Afren
C h a i r m a n , M r. E g b e r t
Imomoh, expressed delight on
the visit of the analysts from
some of the world’s leading
investment houses. He said,
“Production at Ebok Phase1 is
responding in line with
prognosis to water injection’
a n d i s b e i n g s t e a d i l y
increased,” adding that “a
n u m b e r o f a d d i t i o n a l
production wells will be
brought on-stream by year
end. The company remains in a
strong position financially,
with significant cash resources
available and a profitable and
growing production base
underpinning an internally
f u n d e d f o r w a r d w o r k
programme.”
He further explained “A total
of four out of the five planned
development wells have been
drilled and completed as part
of Ebok development Phase 2,
developing the West Fault
Block area of the field. The
company expects to have
completed drilling operations
and have the fifth production
well available shortly and for
all five wells to have been
commissioned and bought on-
stream during December.
Production tests on available
wells have yielded rates that
exceed expectations and the
c o m p a n y ex p e c t s f u l l y
developed production capacity
of the five wells to be greater
than initially forecast.”
Imomoh also said production
at Ebok Phase 1, was steadily
increasing towards the upper
end of the targeted range.
“Having achieved a strong
production test rate from the
D1 reservoir in the Central
Area of the field during the first
half of the year, the company
subsequently prioritized full
development of the reservoir at
this location and is in the
process of batch drilling three
additional production wells. It
is expected that these wells will
be commissioned and bought
on stream by end 2011.”
Over all, about $312.2 million
was generated during the
period, reflecting higher price
realizations from the Okoro
field and increased lifting in
the third quarter of the year.
Oil and gas inventory at
September 30, 2011 was $49.2
million (December 31, 2010,
$14.2 million), representing
approximately 600,000 barrels
at Ebok and 300,000 barrels at
Okoro net to Afren.
Profi t f rom continuing
activities before tax in the
period was $113.0 million
(2010: $75.3 million). This
reflects an increase in gross
p ro f i t o f $39 .3 mi l l i on
compared to the prior period,
but also includes the effect of
gains on derivative financial
instruments of $5.2 million
(2010: loss of $3.6 million);
finance costs of S$36.8 million
(2010: $8.7 million); and a
share of gain of an associate of
$17.4 million (2010: share of
loss of $0.6 million).
Normalized profit in the
period was $49.1 million (2010:
$58.8 million). Normalised
profit excludes the effect of
unrealized hedge movements,
share related costs, the cost of
early debt repayment and the
share of gain on an associate.
FOI Act a tool for implementing NEITI reportsBOLAJI AJALA
he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency T
Initiative, NEITI, has said t h a t t h e f r e e d o m o f Information Act, FOI, is a tool for effective implementation of NEITI, audit report.According to the agency’s new publication, NEITI Open Audit, the signing of the FOI into law has s t r e n g t h e n e d implementation of EITI processes in Nigeria, whose principle is built on public disclosures of payments and r e c e i p t s i n r e v e n u e m a n a g e m e n t a n d governance process of the extractive sector.A c c o r d i n g t o N E I T I Executive Secretary, Mrs. Z a i n a b A h m e d , “ t h e Freedom of Information Act is t imely, supportive and complimentary to NEITI Act 2007 especially at this time that NEITI is set to expand its operations to the solid minerals sector, resource disbursement and physical allocation of revenues to tiers and level of governments.”She noted that the basic goal of NEITI/EITI process which the Freedom of Information seeks to promote is to empower cit izens with information, to ask informed quest ions , debate and dialogue on resource use and allocations with a view to making quality contributions on development issues that shape their daily lives.“Just like the NEITI Act of 2007, the Freedom of Information Act 2011, will encourage more disclosures by companies and agencies to provide information to NEITI Auditors on who paid or received what in revenue f low sand gover nance procedures in the oil, gas and solid minerals sector. This information is fundamental for development planning, a c c o u n t a b i l i t y a n d transparency,” she added.Accordingly, she said both laws were important and complimentary, aimed at pulling down “all boundaries of secrecy and enthrone openness, transparency, voluntary disclosures as well as dissemination of public t ransact ions to enable citizens make valuable inputs on issues that affect their future.”
FocusF 14
David Ige
Dr David Ige is
t h e G r o u p
E x e c u t i v e
Director, Gas
and Power; in
this interview with Clara
Nwachukwu, he speaks of
Federal Government’s efforts to
diversify and industrialise the
economy through infrastructure
provisions. Excerpts:
How would you describe the
o b j e c t i v e s o f t h e g a s
revolution, with a view to
government’s plans o monetise
our gas resources and also
attracting foreign direct
investments?
I think it is always a very good
place to start by reiterating our
gas potential. As a country, you
know we have proven gas
reserves of about 187 trillion
cubic feet, and we also have
undiscovered potential as high
as about 600 trillion cubic feet. If
you brought all hose together,
you find out that our gas
reserves in energy terms is
almost about four to five times
our oil reserves. So when people
rightly describe Nigeria as a gas
province with some oil, they are
not far from the truth.
The agenda in the gas
revolution is to translate that gas
potential into true wealth for the
country, and according to Mr.
President’s plan, we are
pursuing that from three distinct
anchors. The first is gas to
power, the second is gas for gas
base industrialisation, and the
third is gas for export, which
includes regional and export
Liquefied Natural gas, LNG.
These are the three legs of our
entire gas agenda. For the
purpose of the gas revolution I’ll
focus on the domestic part of the
programmes, which are the gas
to power and the gas for
industrialisation.
For gas to power, the objective
is simple; we want to make as
much gas available to see a
significant increase in power
generating capacity. And based
on our first phase of activities
under the gas revolution, we’re
looking to a four-fold increase in
gas to power between now and
2015. So we expect that from the
current level of supply, we are
looking to grow gas supply by
about 3,200million cubic feet
per day over the next four years,
specifically to power. So that
will translate to a huge growth
in generating capacity.
F o r g a s b a s e d
i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , w e ’ r e
preparing in the first phase
across the Niger Delta broadly,
three major centres for gas
processing extraction and gas
based industries. The reason we
have done that is that we are
trying to reposition Nigeria as
the preferred destination for
gas based industries like
fertilizer, petrochemical and
methanol.
When you talk about preferred
destination in has to be
p r o x i m i t y t o t h e g a s ,
affordability of the gas, and
competitiveness of the products
y o u m a ke o u t o f t h o s e
businesses. You will never be
the preferred location if the
fertilizer that is made in Nigeria
cannot compete internationally.
So, we’ve identified three areas
across the Niger Delta, as being
areas for potential industrial
clusters for petrochemical,
fertliser and methanol plants in
the proximity of gas processing
facilities, and we are gradually
implementing those as well. If
you look at all of those, they are
h u g e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l
initiatives in the country.
And how far have you gone
with their implementations?
Let me take the gas to power
first, we have started to increase
gas availability to the power
sector and you will notice that
there has been a steady increase
in gas to power lately, and we
expect tha t progress to
continue.
To s u p p o r t t h a t , t h e
government has made huge
i n v e s t m e n t s i n c r i t i c a l
infrastructure. For example, as I
speak, the Federal Executive
Council has approved the
c o n t r a c t f o r t h e I t o k i -
Olorunshogo Pipeline, which is
a permanent gas pipeline that
will bring gas to Olorunshogo
Power Plant and the environs.
That pipeline project contract
has been awarded and work has
started and will be completed
within the next six months.
We have also awarded the
contract for Alaoji Pipeline, a
permanent pipeline, which will
bring gas also from Imo River to
Alaoji Power Plant, and also to
be completed within six months,
and this will significantly
increase gas availability to
Alaoji Power Plant, to enable it
produce about one Giga watt of
electricity. Again, the pipeline is
ongoing and is due in another
six months as we speak.
Similarly, we have awarded
the contract for the expansion of
the Lagos-Escravos Pipeline,
essent ial ly doubl ing the
capacity from one billion
standard cubic feet per day to
two billion scf/d. The pipes for
that project have started
arriving at the ports and
construction work will start
shortly. The engineering
designs have been completed
and we expect that pipeline to
be completed by the end of next
year, which will significantly
enhance gas availability to all
the power plants along the
pipeline system to Lagos.
Also, we have awarded the
contract for the Rumuoji-
Obigbo-Imo River Pipeline,
which will bring gas to Obiigbo
node, and make gas available in
that axis . Yesterday, we
commissioned the pipeline from
the Obiigbo node through Akwa
Ibom to Calabar, which will
bring gas to the Calabar Power
Plant as well as to the industries
in Calabar.
And as we speak, we are also
finalising engineering studies
on the Oso-Qua Ibo Terminal,
QIT, which will bring gas from
offshore ExxonMobil to shore in
CONTINUES ON PAGE 14
Focus 15
NLNG Ship
Akwa Ibom QIT.
So with all of these major
infrastructure works most of
which will be completed
between six months and 18
months from now, we are very
well poised to bridge the gap
between excess gas availability
in East, shortage in the West,
and significantly boost gas
availability to the power sector.
And we are making extremely
good progress in that direction.
As you know, we are very
close now to awarding the
contract for the Ob-Ob-Oben
Pipeline, which will link the
East to the West. The tendering
process is going through the
commercial phase right now. To
accelerate that, we had to
mod i fy the con t rac t ing
challenges – we are now re-
submitting tenders for two
contractors starting from both
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14sides, so that we can accelerate
delivery. In parallel with that
we are also dealing with the
procurement of the pipes
separately to also accelerate
pipes availability for it.
Essentially, the critical
backbone infrastructure to
support both our gas to power
a g e n d a a n d o u r
industrialisation agenda are
being put in place.
Now coming to the gas
industrialisation, the first phase
is in the West Delta, which is
centred around the Koko free
Trade Zone. Part of what we are
looking out for is that we are
doing additional studies to
harness our gas resources.
From Oben node, we are
doing a 40-kilometer pipeline
that will establish gas presence
at Koko, because that is where
the fertilizer, petrochemical
and methanol plants will be
located, so we are evaluating
that right now. We’ve engaged a
consulting firm to do that.
Specifically around Koko, we
are making good progress, as
over the last few days we’ve got
technical consultants on
ground, who are have gone to
check the Benin River and
Escravos River, all the way to
the Atlantic Ocean, basically to
evaluate the river draft, the
navigability of the river and
identify specific requirement
for dredging to make that work.
This is because, we are trying to
create in Koko, a gas based
industrial city, the biggest of its
kind south of Sub-Saharan
Africa, and it is essential for the
success of that that we clearly
make the river navigable for the
kinds of vessels that we’ll be
looking over the life cycle of
that project. It is a very critical
element, and work is ongoing
by a reputable UK firm, is
looking at the river issues and
also in consultation with
Nigerian Ports Authority,
l o o k i n g a t t h e p o r t
infrastructure that will be
required and all the issues
related to it.
Parallel with that, further
engineering optimisation work
is going on on the central
processing facility, which is
where the gas will be processed
before it goes to the fertilizer,
petrochemicals and so on. That
is being done by keloggs and is
sponsored by the investors
themselves.
The fertilizer project is also
going on well; the Indians have
started the tendering process
for the lump sum turnkey
contractor that will build the
plant, and that process is
ongoing. We have also at the
Koko Free Trade Zone started
the Environmental Impact
Assessment, and work has been
done on the rainy season part of
it and the second season part of
it, which is being done by an
international reputable firm,
Fugurole, because EIA is
crucial before we start site
works at the FTZ.
On the petrochemical side, we
CONTINUES ON PAGE 16
Focus 16
Modern Gas Plant at Night
are working first of all between
the central processing facility
and the petrochemical plants,
optimising their concurrent
technical configurat ions,
because those two must fit
together before they are
aligned. So we are going to a
phase, where there are a lot of
engineering alignments, and
making sure that the basis are
o k a y a n d r e a d y . O u r
expectation is that once we
finish the EIA, we’ll start with
the first phase of activity on
ground, which is beginning to
clear the site in preparation for
major civil works. We hope that
we will be able to enter the site
by Q1 next year, after the
completion of the EIA and
s e c u r i n g a l l n e c e s s a r y
environmental permits from the
Ministry of the Environment.
That is where we are on that.
On the flip side of Koko, on the
extreme side, with the pipeline
commiss ioned yes te rday
between Obigbo and Calabar,
we have now also got the
potential where we have
established gas presence in
Akwa Ibom and Calabar. And
then, we are now trying to
construct another industrial hub
there for the next phase of the
gas industrialization with
fertilizer and methanol plants
located in that axis. We have
strategically structured it that
gas can come from the South
ExxonMobil and from the North
Obigbo to supply that axis
effectively, so as to boost
investors confidence that if they
have an investment there they
can have access to gas from
multiple sources.
Finally, in the central area
around the Rivers axis, we’ve
issued the gas purchase order
for two fertilizer plants, and
methanol plant around the
Onne Free Trade Zone area. So
broadly, we are working in force,
putting in place the backbone
infrastructure that will make the
gas available and consolidating
the investors and investments to
cluster the industrial parks. We
believe that once we have got
these backbone phase one
sorted out, then we can start
having investments across the
country.
So in a nutshell, that is the
status of where we are. If you
look at all of these, there is an
unprecedented amount of
investment opportunities for
investors, we have investment
opportunities in pipelines
because there is going to be a lot
of gas gathering pipelines, gas
distribution pipelines, in
addition to others.
We are looking for oil and gas
investors who may want to
participate in the central
processing facilities, there is a
huge opportunity there. CPFs
will produce a lot of LPG, so we
are also looking for investors
who may want to participate in
the LPG value chain, taking
advantage of availability
around those areas and building
a downstream LPG domestic
and export opportunities. We
are looking for genera l
infrastructure players – civil and
ports infrastructure and also
infrastructure investors that will
play a role in all the FTZs we are
working on.
Part of our strategic focus in
that regard is to make sure that
w e c r e a t e a n e n a b l i n g
environment that will reduce
the risks that the people face in
all these investments, and we
phased the activities in a
manner that reduces the risks of
the pro jects and shores
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 investors’ confidence.
Apart from risks reduction,
are there other incentives
available to investors?
Basically, the objective of the
government is to really catalyse
the industry for unprecedented
economic growth, and I think
apart from the numerous
incentives that exist in a typical
FTZ – as you know the FTZs
really have a lot of investment
incentives in the country; we
would, on a case by case basis
look at the requirements of
every project as well such that
where a project needs help
beyond all that are available in
the FTZ, we will give. But if you
think about it, the FTZ on its
own in Nigeria offers quite a lot
of general incentives – import
duty exemptions, accelerated
approvals and low cost access to
land and a whole range of tax
free incentives, which we
believe are about some of the
most competitive globally.
It appears government is
taking quite a handful with
regard to the infrastructure
provision, do you think all of
these can be delivered within
CONTINUES ON PAGE 17
Focus 17
LPG Tank
the time frame you have
mentioned?
Actually, if you look at the
projects I have mentioned, the
pipelines have been awarded –
the Alaoj i P ipel ine, the
Omotosho Pipeline; these are
all funded contractors and
works are ongoing. We have a
couple of other projects like the
one we just finished yesterday,
which is not a government-
funded arrangement, but
actually an Oando Group
private funding. When we are
looking at pipeline project like
the Ob-Ob-Oben, we are
l o o k i n g a t a P P P t y p e
arrangement in evaluating
them. So what we have is a
mixture, and all the critical
investments like the fertilizer,
petrochemical and methanol
a r e n o t g o v e r n m e n t
investments at all.
In the FTZs, we are looking at
strategic partnerships with the
private sector; actually, the
F T Z s d e v e l o p m e n t s a r e
intended to be private sector
led. So, we have a healthy mix of
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 government-led and PPPs. But
of course, as we move forward,
we expect that the involvement
of the private sector will
intensify and that is the whole
idea. Government’s investment
is to open up and unlock the
opportunities, and the private
sector should then come up and
ride on it.
Looking at the existing
investors, in this case the oil
and gas companies already
operating in Nigeria, how
supportive have they being in
terms of gas supply?
I think that is a good question.
Broadly, there is now a
realisation that gas is a valuable
commodity and a lot of potential
in monetizing your gas across
diverse markets to balance your
risks, so that is a realization that
everybody has come to very
rapidly appreciate in the last
couple of years. We have seen a
major change in the disposition
of the suppliers in the country,
based on this realisation. But
a l s o b a s e d o n Fe d e r a l
Government interventions
either through the regulations
on domestic supply obligation,
but also more positively in the
areas like pricing adjustments
and making the gas pricing
more acceptable, putting in
place commercial contracts that
are bankable and putting in
place all sorts of regulatory
frameworks that give people the
confidence that the domestic
gas market is credible and
bankable. As a result, we are
seeing a good shift in the
behaviours of the suppliers,
some more than others; but
overall, the direction is positive.
We are in a major phase of
transition and we believe that if
all the enablers and the policy
implementations that we have
proposed over the last couple of
months progressed, and
everybody sees that they work,
we believe that the shift would
even be more phenomenal than
it is now.
So apart from the Indians,
how much more interests have
the government programmes
received from the outside
world?
Actually, the interests we have
right now are from Indians,
we’ve got Saudi Arabia. Beyond
that we have a lot of interests
from American companies for
gas processing facilities, we’ve
got some interests from Korean
investors, who want to invest in
infrastructure, we’ve got
interests from diverse sources
across the world in interest in
pipelines infrastructure. So
there’s quite a diverse level of
interest from all over the world.
I think what everybody just
needs now is for some of these
things to line up clearly and we
move on to another phase
entirely.
Looking at another critical
issue affecting investment,
which is security, what is
government doing reassure
investors of the safety of their
investments?
I think this is a very crucial
issue; take for example the
Koko FTZ project where a lot of
activities are ongoing at the
moment. Initially, you get the
apprehension from investors
when they come to Koko, the
consultants, because everybody
is scared. But they’ve been all
amazed at the level of reception
they got from the communities,
the state government and other
stakeholders.
Also, I think there is a general
realisation across board in the
host areas that this will be good
for us, and our challenge now is
to make sure that we sustain
that trust through the process.
The people generally are peace
loving people, and hope that
their trust is not betrayed. This
is important for us, and some of
the options we are looking at
are participation both in terms
of equity, and also in terms of
service opportunities that exist
there.
Secondly, at some point in
time, there will be a road show
locally to local investors
appraising them of some of the
opportunities that will arise for
them from hospitality to just
name it; ahead of time so they
can participate and benefit from
the economic boom. Also, from
the Amnesty Initiative of Mr.
President, which is going so
well, and we also hope to
identify some talents that can be
engaged. When all of these get
s tar ted , a t the peak o f
construction activities, we are
looking at tens of thousands of
people being employed on the
site, so we believe that there will
b e s u f f i c i e n t e c o n o m i c
activities to drown the urge for
criminal tendencies that some
people may have. So, I think we
are starting off very well and it is
essential that we sustain it by
not betraying the trust of the
people.
You’ve talked about the
acceptance of investors as well
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18
Focus 18
as community acceptance of
p r o j e c t s , w o u l d t h e
communities be involved by
way of equity from the onset?
Yes, I think the broad structure
in the master plan allows for
strategic investment by the state
and host communities. We have
always emphasized to the
investors in CPFs; if you look at
the information memorandum,
you’ll see that this
people have a
right to
p lay,
and
s o
we are
keeping to
that and we make
sure that that happens. It is
then up to the state
governments and host
communi t ies to
d e v e l o p t h e
a p p r o p r i a t e
i n s t r u m e n t s o r
vehicles through which
they want to participate. So I
think the broad frame work is to
encourage state and host
governments’ participation as
much as possible.
Still on the local investors, in
terms of Nigeria content
development, would the
foreign partners carry along
the indigenous companies with
a v i e w t o t r a n s f e r i n g
technology?
You know there is a legislative
provision now through the
Nigerian Content Act that
enforces it and awards the
different segments within
engineering and so on. It is
being made clear to the
investors that the national
content law must be adhered to
in its fullness, and there is a
complete recognition of this fact
and it is embraced by investors.
That is why one of the things
that we have to do is to very
early is to very quickly, as soon
we are clear with the different
engineering issues, to start to
appraise our local investors of
the opportunities so that they
can prepare themselves on
these things.
How about the issue of
keeping to the terms of
agreements because that is one
o f t h e c o m p l a i n t s b y
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
inte
rnation
a l
investors that
m i d w a y ,
government tends to
renege on greements?
I am surprise actually because
Nigeria does have a record for
adherence, and as far as I see
here, I do not see any issues
because this is Mr. President’s
Transformation Agenda, which
is anchored on very clear basic
business principles; it’s all
about the investors’ confidence .
What I mean is that in the
event that these plans do not
come to fruition within the life
time of this administration, will
it be carried over by the next
administration because in some
instances some agreement have
had to be discontinued?
Well if you look at the nature of
all the agreements that we’re
looking at in gas here, most of
these are purely commercial
agreements between the NNPC
and its partners. So far, the
federal government’s part of it,
are actually things that are
ent
renched
i n t h e
Nigerian Constitution, like the
NEPZ law relating to free trade
zone incentives. These are laws
that have been existing for
years, and at the moment, I do
n o t s e e a n y p a r t i c u l a r
agreement that we have struck
n o w t h a t i s e i t h e r n o t
commercial or not based on laws
that have been in existence for
long; so I do not see any threats
to any of the agreements.
So what do you foresee as the
challenges regarding these gas
revolution?
I think we are talking here
about mult ibi l l ion dollar
investments; you don’t deliver
those kinds of investments
without a fair share of serious
challenges. I think our critical
challenge must be to align all of
these because we are doing
quite a lot at the same time, so it
is about project management, to
make sure that everything
works concurrently, because
slippage in one can have a
major repercaution on the other.
o we need to make sure that
d e c i s i o n s , b u d g e t
appropriations that require
statutory approvals are done in
timely manners in a very
coordinated manner that does
not lead to failures.
Like I said earlier, we need to
continue to maintain the peace
and security in the Niger Delta.
A n y
s e n s e
that we’ve
lost that
c a n
d ras t i ca l l y
i m p a c t o n t h e
initiatives. These are
areas we need to make
sure that that
c h a l l e n g e
needs to be
m a n a g e d
appropriat
e l y . O f
course, we
still have
t h e
challenge of human
c a p a c i t y a n d
execution capacity at
the right level of quality,
because, imagine when all of
these are happening, we are
building three fertilizer plants,
a petrochemical plant, the CPfs,
the ports and so on; the entire
zone is like a construction site
and so you ask yourself, we
truly have to overcome the
challenge of execution, do you
have the right contractors, the
right equipment, the right
people to manage all these
things. These are major
challenges. Essentially, they
are managing projects risks,
tow, ensuring peace stability
and security, and three making
sure we have the right people,
which is indeed a challenge in
Nigeria in executing the right
capacity.
What about funding?
Well funding will always be
there, to some extent, but bear
in mind that a lot of these
projects are private sector led
and so once they reach financial
level, we expect that they will
have the funds, which is our
strategy for mitigating against
funding challenges.
19Gas
… Moves to build largest pipeline grid in sub-Saharan Africa
Gas pipelines
YEMIE ADEOYE
Oa n d o P l c , N i g e r i a ’ s f o r e m o s t i n t e g r a t e d e n e r g y
company has successfully built and commissioned a 128 kilometre gas pipeline from Akwa Ibom to Cross River state, south-south Nigeria.
The milestone follows the Fe d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t ’ s commitment towards optimal utilisation of the nation’s enormous gas reserves to boost the industrial and powers sectors o f the economy,
This historic and massive project conceived by the Nigerian Gas Company, NGC, was developed by Oando and delivered at the stipulated time with zero casualty record.
According the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu, with about 187 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and 600 t r i l l i o n c u b i c f e e t o f undiscovered potential, Nigeria is well positioned to join countries like Brazil and Indonesia in catalyzing its economy by leveraging its gas assets.
“The role of gas in national t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a n d industrialization cannot be over-emphasised. In March this year, the President, in launching the gas revolution, stated that Nigeria will leverage its strength in the abundance of natural gas to transform the lives of present and future generations. This c o m m i s s i o n i n g i s a d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f o u r commitment to support the a c t u a l i s a t i o n o f t h a t transformation”.
S p e a k i n g o n t h e significance of the project, T i n u b u s a i d t h a t i t exemplifies the importance of public private partnership, PPP, in the infrastructural rebirth of Nigeria, as the synergies of both parties have resulted in the delivery of an e c o n o m i c e n a b l e r f o r businesses in the South-South.
“It is our ideology in Oando that Nigerians are capable of delivering ingenious world-c lass so lut ions to the challenges facing us as a nation. Among us today are many proponents of the Nigerian content and I am sure they are very proud of our achievement. This project was conceived by the Nigerian Gas Company, developed by a Nigerian
corporate, Oando’s East Horizon Gas Company, executed by a Nigerian contractor, Oilserv, using indigenous sub-contractors and talents from the two states and financed by a consortium of Nigerian f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s including: First Bank, Kakawa, FSDH, FCMB, Access bank, Fidelity bank, Ecobank and Sterling bank.”
Tinubu further extolled the virtues of his company in the areas of safety and project excellence. “This 128km natural gas pipeline was built to the highest engineering standards and excellence achievable for a project of this nature anywhere in the world.
“As a safety conscious organisation, we took every reasonable care to build this natural gas pipeline with as l i t t l e i m p a c t o n t h e environment as possible. As you may well imagine, a
pipeline across seven major rivers, swamps and indeed 115 separate communities was fraught with major challenges. It is a testament t o t h e r e s i l i e n c e a n d ingenuity of our project execution team and our sub-contractors that we were able
to bring this project to a successful conclusion.
He said further, “In our vision of building the largest pipeline grid in sub-Saharan Africa it is a notable fact that we have a rich history of investing in the development of energy infrastructure in Nigeria. Our Oando Gas and
Power subsidiary pioneered the private sector piping and distribution of natural gas to industrial and commercial consumers in the greater Lagos Area. This has enabled industries in the area to access a cleaner, safer and environmentally friendlier
alternative, when compared to other forms of energy.
“Over 120 industr ies connected to our 100km gas grid in Lagos, have cut their energy costs by as much as 50 p e r c e n t . T h i s h a s tremendously improved their profitability and making them globally competitive
brands. We have operated this franchise for more than 11 years now without any incident.
On the back of this p i p e l i n e , w e b u i l t a 12.15MW Power Plant for the Lagos Water Corporation. T h i s g a s f i r e d p l a n t increased the efficiency of the corporation by 300% and is saving Lagos State Government $3.9million annually from the tax payer’s money that would have been spent on buying alternative fuel.”
Fur ther more , Tinubu disclosed Oando Gas and Power, in August 2011, assumed the management of an existing gas pipeline in Port Harcourt, following a rigorous tender. The pipeline which has a throughput of about 40 million standard cubic metres per year (mmscm/year), currently serves industries in Trans-Amadi.
“We are indeed pleased to add this 128km gas pipeline from Akwa Ibom to Cross River State to our growing list of natural gas pipeline systems. With the continued support of the government in the creation of an enabling environment, we are on course to achieve our vision,” he added.
20FeedbackFeedback
GODWIN ORITSE
THE Nigerian Ports
Authority, NPA
m a y h a v e
concluded plans
to sanction the
owners of vessel ‘M.T. Britaina
U, which exploded and killed
two persons recently at the
Marina in Lagos.
The exp los ion caused
damage to vehicles parked
opposite a bank at the Marina
Jetty.
Security sources at the
authority disclosed that
besides the sanctions that will
be meted out to the owners of
the vessel, management is
currently awaiting the security
report of the explosion.
It was gathered that the
owners of the vessel face
sanctions because she was
being dry-docked in an
unauthorized area; the area
where the ship was berthed is a
roadstead for vessels.
It furthered gathered that the
N i g e r i a n M a r i t i m e
Administration and Safety
A g e n c y , N I M A S A ,
immediately deployed its
officials for a rescue mission at
the site of the incident.
Efforts to get reaction from
the NPA was futile as the
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. T h o m a s G . M e r e d i t h ,
clarifying the circumstances surrounding the explosions, said it was caused by gas leakages.
In a statement from the chie f execut ive , made available to Sweetcrude, he said, “The explosion which occurred was as a result of gas leakage f rom the cylinders used for welding jobs on the facility by our contractors. However, the explosion was not a bomb, as being alleged in some quarters.”
At the time of the incident, he said the production facility (Brittania-U 1) Floating Production Storage Unit, FPSU, was undergoing
Ship explosion
authority’s spokesman, Chief
Michael Ajayi, said that he was
not aware of the fact NPA was
awaiting any security report or
intends to sanction the owners
of the vessel.
He also said that the NPA’s
management was yet to issue
any official statement because
the incident is still being
investigated.
maintenance/re-engineering of the mooring systems to withstand the challenges of the current climate change.
He also insisted that “The management observed all normal safety checks and p r o c e s s e s b e f o r e commencing any operations, as was the case before the commencement o f the welding job.
“ O u r p r e l i m i n a r y investigation revealed that the leakage from one of the gas welding cylinders, which while being opened by the contrac tors ’ employee , ignited a spark, which caused the explosion. This resulted in one fatality of one contractor employee.”
Expressing deep regrets over the incidence Meredith promised that his company “will continue to strive to
ensure we maintain high safety standards, as we had done in the past to avoid a reoccurrence in future,” and also expressed sincere appreciation to the Lagos State Fire Service, for their prompt response by being the first agency to arrive at the location within 15 minutes of the incidence.
B r i t t a n i a - U N i g e r i a Limited, one of Nigeria’s indigenous marginal field producers, wish to announce the minor explosion that occurred on our production facility yesterday (Monday November 21) at about 4pm at Marina Jetty, Lagos. Appreciation also went to the State Security Services, SSS Lagos Zone, NIMASA, NPA and Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR officials who were on hand to offer their assistance.
NigerStar 7 JV to create 3,000 jobs
agal and Subsea 7, two Jmajor o i l and gas services groups in Nigeria last week announced the creation of a joint venture company, NigerStar 7 that will generate no fewer than 3,000 jobs for Nigerians.
The jobs would be created from a combination of p r o j e c t s i n d i f f e r e n t locations in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri to manage oil and gas projects in country.
Other facilities include:• Two fabrication yards, in
Lagos and Warri, with capacity to handle Nigeria’s largest offshore projects
• The support of Subsea 7’s offshore construction fleet, one of the largest in the industry,
The JV partners explained t h a t t h e p u r p o s e o f NigerStar7 is to provide a credible solution that allows oil companies them to execute large and complex Engineering, Procurement, C o n s t r u c t i o n , a n d Installation, EPCI projects locally in Nigeria.
Based in Lagos, NigerStar 7 is majority owned by Nigerian shareholders. The joint venture combines engineering, fabrication, installation and project management expertise of Globestar (Subsea 7’s Nigerian subsidiary) and fabrication capability and capacity of Nigerdock (Jagal’s subsidiary).
This combination allows the new company to meet client needs for subsea and topside construction and maintenance as well as pipe laying.
NigerStar 7 reiterated its c o m m i t m e n t t o t h e development of skills in Nigeria, and a major example of the effects of the Nigerian Content Act to build the nation’s industrial capability in the oil and gas industry.
Commenting on the joint venture, NigerStar 7, D i r e c t o r , B u s i n e s s D e v e l o p m e n t , M r . Valentine Ugbeide, said: “NigerStar 7 is a powerful init iat ive to create a Nigerian company, to build on Nigerian facilities and capable of tackling the most serious challenges in the nation’s offshore industry. This is a company that is committed to the growth of Niger ia ’ s indust r ia l competence.”
21Power
ABUJA - The
F e d e r a l
G o v e r n m e n t
has directed
M i n i s t r i e s ,
Departments and Agencies,
MDAs, to insist on technical
viabilities of contractors before
awarding any jobs.
It noted that the alarming
number of abandoned and
uncompleted projects that litter
the landscape was because
financial capability has been
placed above sound technical
knowledge.
The Minister of Power, Prof.
Bart Nnaji, disclosed this when
he was reviewing the Gombe
Dadin Kowa hydro power
station with the project
h a n d l e r s a n d o t h e r
stakeholders in his office in
Abuja recently.
N n a j i s a i d i t w a s
embarrassing that a critical
project, which civil work was
commissioned in 1988 was yet
to take off in 2011. “We don’t
want to terminate contracts for
projects of this type with its
multi-use concepts, but due to
lapses in contract awards by
past administrations, the
present administration places
premium more on technical
competence of job bidders than
on their financial liability.
“When you get the money but
possess no sound bankable
technical expertise, a project of
immense contribution to the
economy is stalled or shabbily
carried out and the job creation
ambition of the project remains
completely unrealizable,” he
added.
Nnaji, therefore, gave a seven
day ultimatum to Mabon
Limited to convince the Federal
a n d G o m b e S t a t e
governments’ that it possesses
superior technical knowledge
over other companies or get the
contract terminated.
He noted that because a
contract or Memorandum of
Understanding, MoU, was
signed by past administrations
is not enough for the nation to
tolerate unacceptable number
of abandoned projects, adding
tha t , “gover nment i s a
continuum and that this
government wants to know
what went wrong with all these
abandoned projects all over the
place.”
T h e P o w e r M i n i s t e r
announced that Dadinkowa
project is very important to the
p e o p l e o f N o r t h E a s t
geopolitical zone and that
Gombe is also blessed with best
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
Prof. Bart Nnaji
quality coal which made this
Administration to approve a
coal-to-power station in the
state and that with the dam
project, Gombe State is likely
to be the industrial hub of the
zone.
The Gombe State Governor,
A lha j i Ib rah im Hassan
Dankwambo, who attended
the mee t ing expressed
dissatisfaction that more than
30 years after the project
conception, Gombe State has
been allowed to suffer under-
development, deprivation of
amenities and lack of basic
infrastructure as a result of
visionlessness.
H e a n n o u n c e d h i s
government’s readiness to
undertake a minimum of 15%
equity participation in the
project if this will make the
project move on.
It could be recalled that the
Dadinkowa dam built about
37km east of Gombe town is a
multipurpose facility with a
reservoir capacity of 2.8 billion
cubic meters.Government vision for the
dam included the provision of
hydroelectric power generation
of 34MW, irrigation amounting
to 44,000 hectares of farm land,
portable drinking water to the
State capital and its environs (19
million gallons daily), fishing
and fish farming as well as flood
control and flow regulation on
the Gongola and Benue Rivers.
The project in addition to
Mambilla hydroelectric power
station is being supervised by
the Minister of State for Power,
Mr. Darius Ishaku who also
participated in the crucial
meeting.
h e S i e m e n s
I n d u s t r y
Au t o m a t i o n i n TNigeria, one of the major
players in the energy sector
has comple ted Comos
software solution for plant
management throughout the
ent i re l i fecyc le o f an
industrial plant.
The company said in a
statement issued in Lagos
and made available to
Sweetcrude that it has
i m p o r t e d n e w C o m o s
software solution for Front-
End Engineer ing and
Design, FEED, “to simulate
programmes and support the
users to speed up industrial
plant planning and make it
more reliable.”
The Product Manager,
Comos, Mr. Marcus Elo,
said, “With the new FEED,
plant designers can work
more quick and flexible and
also improve the quality of
their work.
Elo, noted that the Comos
software solution is a
modular and its integrated
data management allows
e f f e c t i v e , h o l i s t i c
development in a system
over the entire lifecycle.
He also said that the data
was both consistent and
transparent in all planning
phases which applied to the
early stages of plant design
and ensured high quality in
the design of the process.
H e a d d e d t h a t t h e
i n t e g r a t e d d a t a a n d
document revision in the
mechanisms provided by the
Comos FEED software
module allow a controlled
a n d e f f i c i e n t d e s i g n
procedure.
“Even at the very early
p lanning s tage o f an
industrial plant project, some
80 percent of the total costs
are defined in the FEED
phase,” he said.
The data from seven
process simulators can be
i m p o r t e d a n d f u r t h e r
processed. This underlines
the open system architecture
of Comos and provides users
with even greater flexible
and further processing for
f l o w c h a r t s a n d b l o c k
diagrams in Comos software.
Siemens introduces new technology on plant management
Christian OLISE
22Power
Th e U n i t e d
Kingdom has t a s k e d t h e N i g e r i a n government to
drive through the reform agenda in the electricity power sector, but cautioned that it would be hard to attract good investors (bidders) unless there is a resolution to outstanding labour issues.
Country Representative of t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m Department for International Development, DIFD, Mr. Richard Montgomery, noted that for years, the Nigerian people had seen the i r governments talk about fixing the power sector, but nothing was delivered.
Speaking recently at the 2011 Nigeria Energy and Power Summit, NEPS, in Abuja, Montgomery stressed that the power sector reform was the most important of Nigeria’s economic reforms, pointing out that failed reforms of the past had contributed to the growing rate of poverty in the country.
He said, “As we look across the range of economic reforms currently underway: none is more important than those aimed at solving the problem of this country’s chronically p o o r p o w e r s u p p l y . Consistently, every survey on the barriers to business, and to investment, has identified lack of reliable power supply as the biggest problem holding back development.
“For years the Nigerian people have seen their governments talk about fixing the power system, and then deliver nothing. Too many times, huge sums of money have been spent , wi th ordinary Nigerians left to wonder where it all went.
“ T h a t i s w h y t h e international community welcomes the decision by President Jonathan to take personal responsibility for the reform of this vital sector, as soon as he took the highest office. It is why the British Government, through the Department for International Development- or DFID- has given strong support to this reform process, and will continue to do so. Real progress has been made over the last one-and –a-half years.”
Montgomery further argued that the implementation of the transition market and the
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
submission of detailed bids for those companies being privatized was the critical phase of the reform that now beckoned. He promised that the DFID would continue to offer technical assistance in building on the progress made by Nigeria through its N i g e r i a I n f r a s t r u c t u r e Advisory Facility.
On the role of the private sector, he stressed that the private sector involvement represents the best hope of attracting the very large investments needed if the sector is to meet the demand for power in the country.
“More p r iva te sec to r involvement represents the
best hope for better service delivery. That is not to say that the private sector is best under all circumstances. It is absolutely crucial that the process of privatization is transparent and genuinely competitive. It is vital that companies should only be sold to bidders who are both technically and financially q u a l i f i e d t o r u n t h e m properly.”
And despite the efforts that have been made so far, he stressed that a lot still needs to be done to attract good investors , warning that emphasis must be on the quality of investments not the number of companies.
According to him, “The government must ensure that bidders have both the policy f r a m e w o r k a n d t h e information they need in order to submit good bids. In both areas, there remains more work to be done. Some issues are well known. There can be no successful reform without the introduction of a realistic tariff for electricity; it will be hard to attract good bidders unless there is a resolution to outstanding labour issues.
“I will ask all those involved to remember every day just how much this reform matters to Nigerians.
Solar Panel
chneider Electric, a global leader in integrated power S
and cooling services, has launched its Channel Partner Programme, CPP, a plan aimed at driving business growth and p r o f i t a b i l i t y f o r companies.
A c c o r d i n g t o a statement, the Nigeria P r e s i d e n t , A P C b y Schneider , Mr. Marcel Hochet, said ‘We are focused on empowering our channel partners to find new, sizeable market opportunities by offering innovative solutions that are easy to sell.’
“We believe that a well-trained, knowledgeable partner will be capable of delivering better value to the customer. Hence the core objective of this programme is to enable the partners differentiate themselves in the market place.”
Hochet called on the channel partners to take full advantage of the programme for the benefit of their business. He further added that APC by S c h n e i d e r E l e c t r i c remained committed to offering partners quality, high-impact, and proven sales and marketing tools to help them grow their business.
The Channel Sales Manager, Mr. Kofoworola Ayodele, in his remarks, highlighted the benefits of being a channel partner, saying that the CPP p r o v i d e s f i n a n c i a l differentiation to partners, i n c l u d i n g u p f r o n t preferred pricing, an opportunity registration p r o g r a m , b a c k - e n d incentives and other opportunities to ensure t h a t t h e p a r t n e r relationship is profitable to the vendors.
“Our channel partners are significant part of our business.
Schneider Electric unveils partner programme
Bolaji AJALA
23Power
A London based company, Africonomie Group, has expressed support for the Federal government’s drive to reform the power sector, and called on investors from across the world to take advantage of the unique opportunity offered by Nigeria to invest in sector.
The Chairman, Advisory Board of Africonomie Croup, Mr. Ashimawan Adum, who spoke Energy Summit, in A b u j a , c h a r g e d t h e government to perfect the regulatory framework that will remove all impediments against investors in the power sector.
He noted that the Power Summi t rede f ines the concerns of stakeholders in N i g e r i a o n t h e m o s t appropriate policy making and decision taking formula for electricity supply and the cr i t ical inf rast ructures n e t w o r k t h a t w i l l accommodate our country in the years to come.
He said, “According to global statistics, Nigeria has a growth potent ia l o f g r o s s i n g 3 5 0 m i l l i o n inhabitants by the year 2030, making it one of the five most populated countries in the World. For any democracy or any government, providing energy for such a multitude is a mammoth task not to mention that maintaining a power efficiency that will span the next half century remains a f r ightening challenge to all here today.
“I enjoin you all to take advantage of all our inland waterways and river basins for Hydropower; I invite you all to fire up clean coal steam plants from the southeast to the northwest, I encourage you to beautify the southern coastline with windmills and our northern borders with solar farms.
“Help us convert our waste to energy and give us clean electricity – CHEAPLY so we can be amongst the leading industrialized nations before our population overwhelms us and consumes the little we have to survive on today.”
Adum further pointed out that the administration of P r e s i d e n t G o o d l u c k Jonathan has made power reform his highest priority; an indicat ion that he understands that sustainable power supply is key to developing economic and
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
Investors forum
social infrastructure.“He knows that stable and
reliable access to electricity does not only mean light but it is a major social, economic and environmental change that contributes to the al leviat ion of poverty, illiteracy, and disease.”
He added that despite the President’s unfaltering commitment to privatize six generating companies and 11 distributors; the process h a s c r e a t e d m a r k e t i n e f f i c i e n c i e s a n d dislocations that require s i g n i f i c a n t c a p i t a l investment and exceptional management.
“Given the scale of such an o b j e c t i v e , a n d t h e implications of failure, it is
clear that progressively developing an unbiased private sector led platform for collaborative engagement of the industry has never been m o r e c h a l l e n g i n g o r exciting,” the statement added.
The Power Summit brought together both national and international key players in the power, energy, oil and gas sectors to evaluate the huge potential that abound in Nigeria, and also to discuss any impediments against opening up the market for investors in line with global trends.
According to the Chairman of the Nigeria Energy and Power Summit, Mr. Nat Yaduma, there is a significant and verifiable effort by
government in privatizing the power sector is open for every investor to see.
He noted that, “Government t o o k a m a j o r s t e p b y unbundling the sector and s u b s e q u e n t l y s e t u p c o m p a n i e s w i t h responsibilities of simplifying the on-going efforts to attract investors. Some of these efforts are in the areas of setting up the Nigeria Energy Regulatory Commission, N E R C , t h e N a t i o n a l Integrated Power Plant (NIPP) and most recently the Nigerian Electricity Bulk Trading Company (NEBT) as s p e c i a l v e h i c l e s w i t h specified functions.
“For example the NIPP’s primary function is building some power p lan t s t o
generate electricity and the bulk purchasing company’s function is to buy off all electricity generated by the generating companies. These will give investors the comfort and assurances that they will get money for value.”
According to him, “NEPS is designed to facilitate action towards providing greater clarity on the Nigeria p o w e r s e c t o r r e f o r m , i m p r o v i n g i n v e s t o r confidence by reducing policy uncertainty seen as a key r isk, encouraging investment in renewables energy, facilitate power infrastructure development a n d b a n k a b l e p o w e r projects.
“The summit is a one-stop shop that provides you with a comprehensive overview of key aspects of the Nigerian energy and power markets: from science and technology to policy reforms and project financing.”
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Electricity Transformers
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Electricity Workers laying power cables
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OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI
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34Financing
Ec o p e t r o l
r epor ted i t s
a p p r o v e d
i n v e s t m e n t
plan for the
year 2012 and the update of the
strategic plan for the Corporate
Group for the 2012-2020
period.
“Our efforts are focused on
fulfilling the goals we set forth
for the years 2015 and 2020.
2012 is essential to make our
vision as a corporate group a
reality, which explains the
importance of the approved
investment plan,” said the
president of Ecopetrol, Javier
Gutierrez Pemberthy.
Regarding the update of the
investment plan, Mr. Gutierrez
stated that “the annual revision
and update exercise of the
main premises of the 2020
strategic plan is key to support
the decision-making and to
consolidate our value promise
that was announced four years
ago and on which we have
been delivering satisfactory
results.”
Investment plan for 2012
T h e i n v e s t m e n t p l a n
approved for 2012 amounts to
US $8.477 billion of which US
$7.452B is expected to be
invested directly in Ecopetrol
and US $1.025 million in other
companies of the Corporate
Group.
According to the plan, 94% of
the Capex is allocated to
projects in Colombia, and the
remaining 6% will be allocated
to exploration and production
projects along the U.S. Gulf
Coast and Brazil and Peru,
w h e r e E c o p e t r o l h o l d s
interests.
The fo l l owing exh ib i t
summarizes the breakdown of
expected investments in 2012:
Business Area Capex
Exploration $1.419B
Production $4.113B
Refining & Petrochemicals
$601MM
Transportation $2.025B
Other Investments $318MM
Total $8.477B
The following are the main
projects that Ecopetrol S.A.
plans to develop during 2012:
Exploration
With an investment of US
$1,419 mill ion in 2012,
Ecopetrol S.A. plans to drill 42
exploratory wells, of which 36
will be located in Colombia.
The Company p lans to
continue with activities on all
blocks it has in Colombia. Most
of these wells will be in the
Llanos Orientales while others
w i l l b e d r i l l e d i n t h e
Magdalena valley, Catatumbo,
Piedemonte and the Caribbean
offshore. Six wells will be
drilled internationally in the
U.S. Gulf Coast and Brazil. The
drilling goal was set according
to the strategy of focusing on
prospects with higher potential
and value for the company.
The company plans also to
c o n t i n u e t o d e v e l o p
unconventional resources
(shale gas) on blocks in the
Mid Magdalena.
Production
Ecopetrol S.A. allocated US
$4,113 million for continued
growth of crude oil and gas
production with a target of up
to 750 thousand barrels of oil
equivalent per day (MBOED)
in 2012 as an average. This
production goal is 10.6%
higher than the 2011 goal.
Ecopetrol’s Corporate Group’s
production is expected to reach
800 MBOED in 2012.
Most of the investment will
be earmarked for projects in
the Llanos Orientales. Primary
recovery projects will begin at
the CPO-9 and Cano Sur
fields. Projects will continue at
C a s t i l l a , C h i c h i m e n e ,
Rubiales, Occidente, Quifa,
Caracara , Cravo Norte ,
Guajira, Rio Zulia, Rancho
Hermoso, Tisquirama, Sur,
Neiva, Provincia, Casabe,
Tibu, La Cira Infantas, Apiay,
Nare, Yarigui and Cusiana
fields, among others.
Refining, Petrochemicals and
Biofuels
T h e e s t i m a t e d t o t a l
investment in this business
segment is US $601 million
under the investment plan,
used p r imar i l y f o r the
industrial services project,
operational improvement plan
a n d u p g r a d e s a t t h e
B a r r a n c a b e r m e j a a n d
C a r t a g e n a r e f i n e r i e s .
Investments in bio-fuels are
i n c l u d e d t h r o u g h
contributions to Bioenergy.
Transportation
The US $2,025 million in
investments in transport aims
to increase crude evacuation
capacity by 600 thousand
barrels a day (BPD) in 2012.
These projects are expected to
help increase heavy crude
production. Also included in
this investment amounts are
contributions to the companies
Oleoducto
Bicentenario and Oleoducto
de Colombia. Oleoducto de los
Llanos expansion will be
funded autonomously by ODL.
Other investments
E c o p e t r o l S . A . p l a n s
allocated US$318 million to
other investments including,
among others, research and
development investments at
the Instituto Colombiano del
P e t r o l e o ( C o l o m b i a n
Petroleum Institute –ICP-) and
information technology. The
investments are also expected
to help fund initiatives in the
areas of human talent, the
shared services center, quality
management and social
responsibility.
C o r p o r a t e G r o u p
Investments
C o r p o r a t e G r o u p
Investments are expected to
amount to US $10.964,
including US $8,477 million in
Ecopetrol S.A. and US $2,487
m i l l i o n o f i n v e s t m e n t s
undertaken by the companies
part of the Corporate Group
with their own resources.
T h e i n v e s t m e n t p l a n
includes Capex for Group’s
companies amounting to US
$4,576 million in 2012, of
which Ecopetrol S.A. will
contribute US $1,025 million.
The remaining resources are
expected to come from cash
generation by each company,
commercial financing, and the
contributions of third parties or
partners.
Update of the Strategic Plan
for the period 2012-2020
In line with the annual
budget and inves tment
exercise, the Strategic Plan of
the company was reviewed
under which key elements of
the strategy were updated.
The main objectives of the
Strategic Plan are:
Produce 1.3 million barrels
by 2020, of which around 50%
are expected to be heavy
crude.
Increase average reserve life
to approximately 10 years,
adding 6,200 million barrels.
Raise the recovery factor to
34% by means of EOR/IOR
( E n h a n c e d O i l
R e c o v e r y / I m p r o v e d O i l
Recover) technologies.
Expand the transport capacity
to 1.7 million barrels per day.
Grow the refining capacity
from 300 thousand to 415
thousand processed barrels per
day.
Reach production of 450
thousand tons per year of bio-
fuels.
Meet a three-year return on
capital employed (ROCE)
criteria for the investments
included in the plan of: 28% in
Exploration and production,
11% in transportation, and 13%
in petrochemicals. Refining
rates will reach between 9% and
11% by 2025.
The following are the main
milestones of the Strategic Plan:
Estimated Capex amounts to
US $80 billion in order to
accomplish the goals set forth in
the 2012-2020 Strategic Plan.
Approximately 85% of the total
Capex is allocated to exploration
and production, and 15% to
r e f i n i n g , t r a n s p o r t ,
commercialization, bio-fuels
a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l
consolidation.
90% of the investment is
earmarked to projects in
Colombia. The remaining 10%
will be allocated to E&P projects
along the U.S. Golf Coast and in
Brazil and Peru.
Capex in E&P amounts to US
$69.5 billion, of which US $20
billion will be invested in
exploration and development of
new reserves, US $39 billion in
technology to increase the
recovery factor, US $4 billion to
d e v e l o p u n c o n v e n t i o n a l
hydrocarbons and gas, and US
$6 billion to develop existing
fields (includes subsidiaries
production).
The company expects to add in
total 6,200 million barrels of new
reserves between years 2011-
2020. In order to reach 1.3
million barrels per day of
production by year 2020, the
production of existing fields is
expected to be 840 MBOED;
Colombian exploration and
subsidiaries 300 MBOED;
international exploration and
fore ign subs id iar ies 110
KBOED; and unconventional
hydrocarbons 50 MBOED.
Dollar bills
35Insurance
Commissioner for Insurance, M r . F o l a Daniel said t h a t t h e
Commission is not leaving any stone unturned in reducing the activities of fake insurance operators to the barest minimum. He spoke to Rosemary Onuoha, Excerpts:
H o w s u c c e s s f u l i s NAICOM in the war against fake insurance operators?
T h e p e o p l e w e apprehended were handed over to the Nigerian police as expected. We did some follow ups, the response we got from the police was that they were still investigating even after investigation had closed; they said they were still investigating. We had a rethink over our processes; we discovered that we need to do more ground work. First of all before we go to arrest anybody, we need to set the stage for what are we going to do. Are we going to allow the Nigerian police to continue to frustrate our efforts or can we call for the private prosecution.
We are looking at the p o s s i b i l i t y o f p r i v a t e prosecution and we are appealing to the attorney general to give us a fiat to e n a b l e u s c a r r y o u t prosecution which means our lawyers can charge offender to court. We are d o i n g t h a t w i t h o u t necessarily wanting to annoy the police because definitely they have a role to play and we must not behave in a way that we will have issues with them.
To ensure that we have more e f f ec t i ve po l i ce collaboration I am making efforts to meet with the IG. The idea to speak with the IG is just to let him know that they are very important in our quest to fight fake insurance operators and we need them to collaborate. We will be expecting that the IG will issue directive to all the Commissioners of police so that when people are
apprehended and the police are aware they will know that they are not burying it under t h e f i l e o f ‘ w e a r e investigating’ they know that they have to do something. We are also reaching out to the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, who are also stakeholders in our fight a g a i n s t f a ke i n s u r e r s because the FRSC have some mechanism, which they can deploy to prosecute the fake
insurance operators.One of the strategies we
put in place is get the col laborat ion of State Governments. The State G o v e r n m e n t s a r e t h e e m p l o y e r s o f Ve h i c l e Inspection Officers, VIOs and the VIO offices are the biggest market or platform where fake insurance p r o d u c t s a r e s o l d . I remember that when we raided the VIO office in Lagos, the state government
was a bit embarrassed and they summoned all their VIOs and instructed them not to allow insurance to be sold in their premises. But they confirmed that their activities were given to them by their enabling Act. So we need to go round and talk to state governments so that they can give instructions to their VIOs because VIOs of most states are acting as contractors. Most of them are self funding. I can that
remember when we first did a raid in Abuja two years ago, the head of VIO in Abuja came to our office to tell us what was going on. And he was practically appealing that we should reverse our decis ion not to a l low insurance to be sold in their office. And I was wondering ‘what has insurance got to do w i th r eg i s t ra t i on and licensing of vehicles.’ He said that insurance is one of the side attractions and because we stopped them operating in Abuja, people no longer come to Abuja to license. They were taking their vehicle registration to the out skirt of Abuja just 20 minutes away from Abuja. So we really need to collaborate with the authorities so that our solo effort will no longer be solo but it will be collaborative and it will give better results. If you ask me if what we have done has driven away the entire fake from licensing offices, the answer is no. but Nigerians have a very thick skin, so a few people will still remain there. We have done similar raiding in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano. However, what of the fake operators in Warri, Aba, have we been able to reach a l l t h e 7 1 0 l o c a l governments? The answer is no therefore we need to co l laborate wi th s ta te government so that our efforts will not be entirely in vain.
What is the impact of offshore subsidiaries on insurance companies?
It is difficult for me to really tell because we are not operating a consolidated balance sheet. If the balance sheets of the insurance companies are consolidated it means that their businesses in Rwanda, Ghana, you will find everything in one booklet. Then you can look at the bulk and say yes, this is how much each one is contributing. But that is where we are going. We are going to insist henceforth that you will give us the financials of your activities outside Nigeria so that we can truly see what the impact is. I have a personal opinion about Nigerian companies going to establish abroad.
Mr Fola Daniel
36Insurance
As companies in Nigeria have b e e n mandated to a d o p t t h e
International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS, Nigerians will be in a position t o u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e workings of oil majors better.
M r. A b e l A t a l o r, a n accountant who made this assertion, argued that since the oil majors are not quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, the adoption of IFRS by these companies wil l to a large extent demystify their operations to the understanding of more Nigerians.
According to Atalor, since
Rosemary ONUOHA these oil companies are doing business with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which is required to transit to IFRS t h a t m e a n s t h e y a r e compelled impliedly to also confirm.
Atalor stated that the absence of the oil majors on the NSE have been a big problem for the country because their activities to a great extent have influenced t h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e economy.
Meanwhile, the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, is set to issue new guidelines and modalities for the insurance sector on IFRS.
NAICOM said that the guideline will ensure that there is uniformity in the
financial statements of insurance companies when they eventually transit to IFRS.
The Acting Director of Supervision of NAICOM, Mr. Nicholas Opara, who disclosed this at training on I F R S f o r i n s u r a n c e correspondents in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State organised by NAICOM said that the IFRS is principle based and not rule based which means t h a t m a n a g e m e n t o f companies are free to make diverse and varied choices but such choices must be explained.
In order to prevent a situation whereby every operator will have a unique financial result based on the freedom which IFRS affords,
Opara said that issuing a guideline to check excesses has become imperative in the insurance sector.
According to Opara, once t h e g u i d e l i n e i s o u t , insurance companies are expected to open their balance which will read from January 2011.
Meanwhile NAICOM has also charged management t e a m s o f i n s u r a n c e companies to take concrete steps to educate themselves on the new IFRS reporting f o r m a t b e c a u s e m o s t management teams o f companies see IFRS as mere accountants’ affair and are depending on consultants to do the entire transition on their behalf which is not in t h e i n t e r e s t o f s u c h
companies.Deputy Commiss ioner
F i n a n c e & A c c o u n t s , N A I C O M , M r. G e o r g e Onekhena, who made this assertion, stressed that accountants or management teams of companies waiting for consultants to handle in entirety their IFRS transition lack direction.
I n h i s w o r d s , “A n y accountant or management team waiting for a consultant to do their IFRS job for them has already failed because you need to understand it first as an operator.”
Onekhena regretted that a lot of leadership of insurance companies are not taking IFRS seriously, stating “Many leadership are not taking the IFRS seriously rather they are taking it as an accountant stuff. When they will be hit, they wi l l then take i t seriously.”
O n w h a t i n s u r a n c e companies stand to gain in the adoption of IFRS, Onekhena said that IFRS enables insurers to report in a way that reflects reality and substance rather than the shadow.
According to him, with the IFRS there is going to be lots and lots of disclosures from the insurance companies and it is going to revolutionise the insurance industry.
With the dissolution of the N i g e r i a A c c o u n t i n g Standards Board, and the creation of the Financial Reporting Council, FRC, Onekhena posited that the FRC is going to rope auditors into line and they will not have the kind of powers they initially had.
He, therefore, charged insurance companies to embrace IFRS because foreign investors will be looking at the country with suspicion if they continue to dilly dally, adding that such attitude is doing damage to the country.
He explained that the IFRS is divided into two phases and the first phase, which is the transitory and permissive stage will end in 2012, while the second phase which is the convergence stage is in 2015.
He advised insurers to take up the challenge because with IFRS technologies wi l l change and p resen t l y, Nigerian insurers don’t have the adequate sof tware. According to him, they should not wait till the last minute, but should begin in their own individual capacities.
Oil Rig
United aDN
38LabourVictor AHIUMA-YOUNG
Oil drilling
TRADE Union C o n g r e s s o f Nigeria, TUC, a c c u s e d P r e s i d e n t
Goodluck Jonathan, of using the controversial planned removal of fuel subsidy in January, to divert Nigerians’ a t t e n t i o n f r o m t h e government’s inability to see through the passage of p r o t r a c t e d Pe t r o l e u m Industry Bill, PIB.
This, the union noted is b e c a u s e d o w n s t r e a m deregulation is already an integral part of the PIB. “The loss to the Nigerian economy as a result of the delay in the passage of the PIB is colossal and far more than the amount spent on fuel subsidy. Besides, if the transparency clauses in the PIB are properly articulated there would be drastic reduction in the cor r up t ion in the Nigerian oil and gas sector including those associated w i t h t h e o i l s u b s i d y management. In addition, the P I B p r o v i d e s a r a r e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h e government to undertake a hol i s t ic rev iew of the downstream sector including how to grow our local refining capacity and as well as attract serious investments into that sector. The non passage of the P I B i s s t a l l i n g h u g e investments in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, as prospective investors are not sure of the fiscal regimes and other rules that will govern their investments and the N i g e r i a n o i l a n d g a s industry.”
TUC advised the president to focus his energy on harmonising the various versions of the PIB in circulation, and forward an Executive Bill on the PIB to the National Assembly, which should also be made available to the public to guide further debates in the National Assembly.
This was contained in a paper titled: “The Petroleum Indus t r y B i l l and the Challenges of Transparency in the Oil and Gas Industry,” de l ivered a t the 2011 NUPENG annual training w o r k s h o p o n Transformational Agenda And Processes in the Oil and Gas Industry: Issues for Trade Union leaders’ consideration, in Calabar, Cross River State.
The Chairman of Rivers
State Council of TUC, Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu, recalled that the PIB, which is based on the report of the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee, OGIC, set up by the Federal Government in year 2000, to carry out a comprehensive reform of the oil and gas industry, was first presented to the National Assembly in September 2008.
According to him, “the PIB combines 16 di f ferent Nigerian petroleum laws into a single and coherent document to provide for the establishment of the legal and regulatory framework, institutions and regulatory authorities for the Nigerian petroleum industry as well as establish guidelines for the operation of the upstream and downstream sectors. Some of the laws that would be affected by the PIB
include; The Petroleum Profit Tax Act 1959, The Petroleum Act 1969, The Pe t ro leum Techno logy Development Act 1973, The Associated Gas Re-injection Act 1979, The Petroleum Equalisation Fund Act 1989, The Oil Pipelines Act 1990, The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Act 1997; and The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency Act 2003.
“The PIB is therefore, a reform legislation that seeks to holistically review the oil and gas industry. It is however, unfortunate that the 6th National Assembly could not pass the PIB into law even after concluding a ve r y e labora te pub l i c hearing and after several promises to Nigerians that they will do so. When the 7th National Assembly was inaugurated in June 2011, the general public including
stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry were quick to draw their attention to the urgent need to fast-track the passage of the PIB into law. It is therefore not a surprise that new Petroleum Industry Bills are now before each chamber of the National Assembly.”
The PIB has the following fundamental objectives.
Enhance exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources in Nigeria and to p r o m o t e p e t r o l e u m production for the benefit of all Nigerians
Signif icantly increase domestic gas supplies for power genera t ion and industrial development
Create a peaceful business environment for petroleum operations
Establish a progressive f i s c a l f r a m e w o r k t h a t e n c o u r a g e s f u r t h e r investment in the petroleum
industry whilst increasing accruable revenues to the Federal Government of Nigeria
Create a commercially viable National oil company
Deregulate petroleum product prices
Create efficient regulatory entities
Create transparencyPromote Nigeria contentProtect health, safety and
environment,”Onuegbu further argued
that “It is heartening to see that one of the fundamental objectives of the PIB is to c r e a t e t r a n s p a r e n c y. Unfortunately this seems to be lacking in the way and manner the PIB is being legislated. It is a huge d i s a p p o i n t m e n t f o r Nigerians to learn that there are four versions of PIB, which is supposed to ensure transparency in the Nigerian petroleum industry.”
39Labour
JO I N T A c t i o n Front, JAF; the pro-labour civil society partner in the Labour and
Civil Society Coalition, L ASCO, have begun m o b i l i s a t i o n a n d sensitisation of Nigerians to resist government planned removal of subsidy on fuel and privatisation of the power sector, saying it would destroy Nigeria if allowed to sail through.
At a briefing in Lagos, JAF said the planned policies were ant i-Nigeria and Nigerians and must be rejected by all right thinking Nigerians to save Nigeria from the path of destruction, saying Nigerians must rise up to reject the desperation by the Federal Government to impose another round of wicked punitive increases in the prices of petroleum products (petrol, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, low pour fuel oil, LPFO, etc.
Speaking on behalf of the g r o u p , i t s S e c r e t a r y, Comrade Abiodun Aremu, warned that the forceful take-over of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN facilities nationwide and its implication for constitutional rule in Nigeria.
According to him, “As far as we in JAF are concerned, there is nothing like fuel subs idy. The recyc led argument being canvassed by Government and its rented spoke-persons that only a cabal of profiteers benefit from the subsidy c l ea r l y exposed i t a s irresponsible and anti-poor if, with all the security apparatus at its disposal, the government cannot deal with the profiteers and private sharks that are looting funds in the name of subsidy, then we must protect ourselves.
A n o t h e r r e a s o n t h e government has given is that the removal of ‘fuel subsidy’ is to block wastage of resources. If we may ask; why has Government never prosecuted anybody involved in the mismanagement of the turn-around-maintenance of the refineries? At least over $231.6 million was wasted by the Obasanjo government on this. The answer is simple. Those in government and the so-called cabals are the same looters; so they cannot prosecute themselves for
Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG
bleeding the country dry through naked looting. Instead, they want to impose price increases to make life unbearable to the working people and poor masses.
The group argued that if government was sincere about saving leakages in public funds, then it should i n s t i t u t e p r o - p e o p l e pgrogrammes and not prescriptions from the Brettonwood institutions like IMF and the World Bank, the European Union, and a host of others.
On the forceful take-over of PHCN facilities, Aremu insisted it was a ploy to allow the Bureau o f Pub l i c Enterprises, BPE to take prospective investors “to undertake the inventory of the facilities, in view of its plot to illegally transfer these undervalued public assets to their cronies of profiteers, so-called private investors. JAF deplores this unwarranted
military occupation, which has been characterized by the maltreatment of workers and security harassment of its leadership across the c o u n t r y , i n s t e a d o f Government implementing the payment of the 50 per cent salary increment due to the PHCN workers since June.
T h e J A F t h e r e f o r e , demanded the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the soldiers, saying, “We totally reject the planned privatisation of PHCN. Our position on the Power Sector is that the PHCN can be e f f i c i e n t i f i t i s democratically run with the involvement of elected representatives of workers and consumers in the management of electricity. This is the only way that the public resources invested in the sector can translate into qualitative improvement in power generation, adequate
supply and affordability.”JAF calls for total actionThe JAF scribe urged
Nigerians to prepare for protracted mass actions if government went ahead with the planned subsidy removal and privatisation of the electricity sector. “Join forces with JAF today to “reject deregulation and hike in prices of fuel. Reject and resist the privatisation of the electricity sector. Demand public trial of all public and private profiteers and dealers involved in the looting of oil subsidy, repairs of refineries as well as other corrupt atrocities in the privatisation o f pub l i c en te rp r i ses . Demand that the books of the oil industry be made open to the Trade unions and w o r k i n g p e o p l e organisations for Public Inquisition. Insist on Public Massive investment in the building of refineries and overhauling of the facilities
and infrastructures for haulage of fuel. Struggle to end the privatization and deregulation policies.”
The group equally called on the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, “to disown their membership of the National Council of Privatization (NCP) and Stay out of it now. We demand that the oil sector and the NNPC should be placed under public ownership and management and democratic control of t h e w o r k i n g p e o p l e , consumers and local experts. Organise and Mobilise for a Working People political party that must put in p o l i t i c a l p o w e r a Government that will end the era of looting and exploitation by the corrupt capitalist ruling cabals and ensure that the wealth of the country is judiciously applied to benefit the majority working population (formal and informal sectors) and the poor.”
Power sub station
Nigeria Army during training
40Labour
PUBLIC Service International, PSI, umbrella body for public service workers
worldwide, has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over the recent deployment of armed Soldiers to Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, facilities nationwide and perceived harassment of labour leaders in the sector.
In a petition by Peter Waldoref, PSI General Secretary, the group urged the Federal Government to restrain itself from the use of agencies such as Economic a n d F i n a n c i a l C r i m e Commission, EFCC, State Security Service, SSS, the Police, and military to intimidate the union and workers of PHCN.
The petition read in part: “It is with alarm that we note the military occupation of power stations throughout the country. This occupation comes under the guise of protecting the facilities and workers against possible
Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG
threats from Boko Haram. However, we see another purpose , which i s t o intimidate the workers and their union leaders in order to have them cease and divert their opposition to privatization of the energy sys tem. Th is mi l i ta r y occupation was used not less than four months ago to stop an industrial dispute. We are aware of the politicizing of the electricity sector where certain parties, including in your government,?? have personal interests to run down the sector in order to use the opportunity ??to privatize under the guise that the public sector has
failed.“ N a t i o n a l U n i o n o f
E lec t r ic i ty Employees , NUEE’s oppos i t ion to privatization is based on the more than 20 years of experience in many countries with energy privatization. T h e i m p a c t o f t h e s e privatizations has been almost uniformly negative. Your policy makers should study these experiences in greater detail, and give you less biased advice on the greatest good for all of Nigeria and Nigerians. The N U E E h a s n o t b e e n confrontational to your Government and recently engaged in dialogue as a
partner so that our views can be heard and taken on board. The continued arrests and intimidation of NUEE members is a negation to civilized ways of resolving conflicts in our modern society which guarantees freedom of association and right to expression of opinion.”
The PSI also said argued that the use of force and aggression would not be in the interest of all Nigerians. “We support a strengthened PHCN in public hands, with m u c h i m p r o v e d transparency, accountability a n d p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n decision-making processes.
The country has sufficient funds to provide modern, reliable and affordable electricity to all Nigerians, which will provide key support to job creation and poverty reduction. We have provided policy suggestions to your Government and stand ready to support your decision-making. Our unions in Nigeria are committed to ongoing open d i a l o g u e w i t h a l l stakeholders to improve the quality public services upon which we all depend. We urge the Government to restrain itself from the use of agencies such as EFCC, SSS, Police, and military to intimidate the union and workers of PHCN.”
Nog aD
42Solid Mineral
AB U J A -
Central Bank o f Niger ia , C B N G o v e r n o r ,
Mallam Sanusi Lamido S a n u s i , h a s c h a r g e d governments at Federal and state levels to come up with robust blueprints that would c r e a t e s t a b l e m a c r o -economic environment.
He also charged them to m a i n t a i n c o m p e t i t i v e markets, while ensuring easy access to credits for the nation’s mining industry.
Sanusi, who was speaking in a keynote address at the Bus iness Deve lopment Roundtable for Investment in Zamfara State, in Abuja, stated that there was the need for a deliberate policy framework to promote and engender political and economic change to support n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e management for growth and sustainable development.
He said that, “In order to a t t r a c t i n v e s t o r s , a comprehensive resource database to be supported with relevant information is a prerequisite. Government must invest in pol icy, legislative and institutional r e f o r m s t o a d d r e s s environmental issues across d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s a n d institutions.”
He added that innovative and comprehensive resource mobilization strategies to increase investments into environment and natural resources as well as invest in new and robust approaches, including those that build stronger synergies between land degradation, climate change, and bio-diversity must be encouraged.
A c c o r d i n g t o h i m , government must a lso partner with stakeholders such as NGOs and the private sector to work towards addressing environmental damages at local level where the impacts are most felt.
He stressed that the endowment of mineral resources does not guarantee the development of the state, noting that in order to create and sustain wealth in the long run, “mineral resources have to be transformed into other forms of capital (human, social, financial and manufactured) and more sus ta inab le l i ve l ihood opportunities.
“The challenge for us today,
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
CBN Headquarter at Abuja
is to recognize the potential for the ‘resource curse’ and work effectively to counter it. Good governance, strong i n s t i t u t i o n s , e f f e c t i v e regulations and rigorous environmental and social safeguards are needed to realize the potentials of mineral wealth for economic growth,” he added.
Sanusi noted that natural resources are fundamental to economic activities in many ways, adding that “not only do they contribute to the incomes, employment and fiscal revenues of the citizens and the state, they also form the bedrock upon which the
livelihood of many of the very
poor rest.”
He added that, “Natural
resources generate a wide
range of positive externalities
at the local, national and
global levels. Thus, the
achievement of poverty
eradication and the attainment
o f t h e M i l l e n n i u m
Development Goals have long
been closely linked to a sound
n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e a n d
environmental management.”
He explained that the Bank
has articulated a blueprint for
reforming the Nigerian
financial system, in general,
and the banking sector in
particular, within the next 10
y e a r s . T h e s e i n c l u d e
enhancing the quality of the
banks, establishing financial
stability, enabling healthy
financial sector evolution and
ensuring that financial sector
contr ibutes to the real
economy.
He added that, “In ensuring
that the financial sector
c o n t r i b u t e s t o t h e
development of the real
economy, the Bank would lead
in measuring more accurately
the relationship between the
real economy and financial
sector, as well as cooperating
with state governments to run
pilot programmes in directing
t h e f i n a n c i a l s e c t o r ’ s
contribution to social and
economic development within
the states.”
According to him, threats to
the environment and natural
resources, as was recently
reported in Zamfara State,
pose serious consequences
and implications for both
pove r ty r educ t ion and
s u s t a i n a b l e e c o n o m i c
development.
“Since the responsibility to
generate and sustain growth
rests on the state government,
it becomes imperative for the
state to improve upon its
natural resource management
for long-term economic
development.
43Solid Mineral
ABUJA – The F e d e r a l Government has stated that t h e
availability of bankable geosciences information and d a t a w o u l d f a c i l i t a t e discovery, exploitation, value addition as well as the sustainable development of the nation’s minerals and metal sector.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Musa Mohammed Sada, said recently during the 3rd S t a k e h o l d e r s ’ F o r u m organised by Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, in Abuja.
The minister said for the sustainable development of the nation’s minerals and metal sector, the Federal Government was ensuring that geosciences data and information are properly a c q u i r e d , s t o r e d a n d disseminated in order to attract financiers and foreign
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
i n v e s t o r s f o r t h e development of the sector.
He said “In mining sector, t h e v a l u e o f d a t a i s unquantifiable. The quantity and quality of data matter; this is why we attach great i m p o r t a n c e t o t h e accumulation of data.”
He cited lack of adequate funding as one of the major challenges facing the sector, stressing that, availability of a d e q u a t e b a n k a b l e geosciences information and data would go a long way in attracting commercial banks and foreign investors to grow the nation’s minerals and metal sector.
Sada exp la ined tha t various stakeholders’ fora embarked upon by the ministry and its parastatals
are opportunities for opening up discussions, debates and scrutinizing different aspects o f d e v e l o p m e n t a l programmes to stakeholders in the sector as well as the general public.
He added that such fora would give room to showcase the work o f d i f f e ren t departments and agencies of the ministry to users of their products and services, t h e r e b y e n c o u r a g i n g transparency and improve service delivery in line with the transformation agenda of the present administration.
The minister said the stakeholders’ forum on the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency was part of the strategic efforts of the ministry to promote and
expand the investment f r o n t i e r s t h r o u g h t h e dissemination of bankable geosciences information and data.
He added that the forum w o u l d p r o v i d e a n opportunity for stakeholders in the nation’s minerals and metal sector to interact and brainstorm with a view to defining future requirements and improving service delivery for the accelerated developmental programme of the sector.
The minister who noted that “Mining sector is a global sector; we must go with global best practices,” also said the nation’s minerals and metal sector h a s t w o o p e r a t i o n a l principles of first come ,first
serve and use it or lose it in line with international best practices.
Sada told journalists on the sidelines that the Mining Cadastre Off ice of the ministry, which is for the administration of mining titles is not the major revenue generating office of the sector, but revenue from the nation’s minerals and metal sector comes from royalties and taxes from the exploitation of solid mineral resources.
He noted that mining operations are being handled by private investors globally while the government plays the role of a regulator. He added that government was working towards positioning the nation’s minerals and metal sector to partner with mining companies to build the infrastructural facilities such as roads, rail lines and sea ports, to facilitate their easy access to and from the mines sites as obtained in other mining countries such as Australia and Canada, among others.
44Solid Mineral
Even as news that hundreds of children and w o m e n cont inue to
lose their lives to massive lead poisoning, which occurred since March, 2010 in Zamfara state, the Federal government insisted that its handling of the issue was meticulous and proactive.
An annual immunization programme in Northern Nigeria last year led to the discovery of a high number of child deaths in the area. An investigation showed that they had been digging for gold at the times of their deaths, in an area where lead is prevalent. It was thought by the villagers that all the children had contracted malaria but the international medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières, found unusually high levels of lead in the blood during tests. Reports suggested the contamination of water may have contributed to the high mortality rate. Blacksmith Institute was called in by the Federal government to assist in the removal of toxic lead.
It is thought that the poisonings were caused by the illegal extraction of ore by villagers, who take crushed rock home with them to extract. This resulted in the soil being contaminated from lead, which in turn poisoned the people through hand-to-mouth contamination. Others have been contaminated by contact with contaminated tools and water.
According to officials of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, reports in the press about recent loss of lives in the vast mining areas of the state have not taken note of the vast amount of remediation work going on in the state, as well as efforts by t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n t o effectively organise the small-t ime miners into cooperatives to ensure efficient supervision and regulation of their activities.
A statement from the Ministry noted that, “The report was based on the i l l e g a l m i n i n g a n d inappropriate mineral ore processing methods adopted by local miners in Abare, Dareta, Unguwar Yargalma and some other villages in Zamfara State that led to lead poisoning emergency in the
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
State. The Ministry and other Government agencies as well as some in ter nat ional a g e n c i e s h a v e m a d e concerted efforts to have the situation brought under control.”
In this regard, it noted, the Ministry had embarked on v igorous sens i t i za t ion campaign in the state using both the electronic and print media to enlighten the public, especially the rural people in the mining communities of Zamfara State of the inherent dangers a s s o c i a t e d w i t h inappropr ia te minera l processing and i l legal mining.
“In the same vein, the Ministry issued a suspension order on all manners of mining activities in Zamfara State for sometime which h e l p e d i n t h e i n i t i a l
c o n t a i n m e n t o f t h e emergency. Similarly, in order to assuage the water needs of the people in the affected communities, the Ministry provided 15 water boreholes that spread across the affected areas,” the statement added.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Mohammed Sada, recently admitted that government was having some challenges curtailing activities of illegal miners across the country, a development that has seen the death of over 300 people, inc lud ing women and children in Zamfara State last year.
He noted that activities of illegal miners was becoming inc reas ing ly rampant , adding that even the entire forces of the Nigeria police would not be able to contain
the menace of illegal miners in the country.
Sada pointed out that investigations carried out by his ministry and other officials revealed that the deaths of the villagers in Zamfara State were entirely the handiwork of illegal miners.
According to him, “The issue of illegal miners has b e c o m e o n e t h a t i s increasingly difficult to contain. This is because of the very difficult terrains in which mining activities are carried out. Some of the locations of the illegal mines are remote and almost inaccessible. Also, whenever these illegal miners get wind of the presence of the authorities, they easily disappear into thin air leaving the hapless villagers
and other locals to bear the brunt of their nefarious activities.”
He added that, “It is important to note that these i l legal miners abound everywhere across the country, and it would be practically impossible to attempt to check them all. We can ’ t s top them f rom operating, but we can find ways to harness their efforts and create better value for them and the economy at large.”
The Minister explained that the government was doing its best to enhance the e d u c a t i o n a n d enlightenment of the mining communities, especially on the dangers involved in the improper handling and processing of crushed rocks from the illegal mining sites.
Illegal Miners
45Freight
That the issue of N i g e r i a acquiring the Shipping hub status in the
West and Central Africa Sub-region has come to the centre- stage in numerous maritime discourse in 2011, is not surprising to watchers of maritime trade in Nigeria.
It is also no longer news that Nigeria has since independence been the b i g g e s t i m p o r t e r a n d exporter in the sub-region s u c h t h a t , t h e c a r g o throughput (oil and gas inclusive) till date dwarfs those of other seaports in West and Central Africa sub-region.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h i s outstanding edge in volume of maritime trade has not translated into appropriate port development with a view
Jones OJIEH to placing Nigeria in her rightful position in the sub-regional maritime trade.
The consequence of this seeming shortfall in the maritime port development program has resulted in smaller countries in the sub-region developing seaports w i t h b e t t e r a t t r a c t i v e facilities, water ways depth, etc that have apparently placed them higher in the ladder in the league of efficient seaports in the sub-region.
The pertinent question that readily comes to mind is- why has the numerous previous managements of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) failed to appreciate the fact that deep seaport development is a veritable goldmine and catalyst to acquiring the much talked about maritime hub status in the sub-region?
It becomes more worrisome on the realization that, out of o v e r 1 0 0 s e a p o r t s
development being executed worldwide, about 60% to 75% a re deep seapor t s o r terminals whilst the balance 25% or 30% are mostly inland waterways, ports or jetties.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e t e m p l a t e f o r p o r t development in Nigeria in the pas t 50years has continually positioned the country in the bracket of inland ports operators.
H o w e v e r, m a r i t i m e watchers have argued that there had been complete lack of political will on the part of government on tackling the issue of deep seaport development which is of public interest.
They further opined that while Nigeria is described as the giant of Africa, that cannot be said of her in the sub-regions maritime trade.
After all, the industry watchers had argued that a f t e r 6 y e a r s o f t h e commencement of port
concession, a deep seaport w o r l d h a v e b e e n commissioned so as to accelerate the processes of acquiring the much desired hub status of the West and Central Africa sub-region.
Today, the new song being sung by the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authori ty, Engr. Omar Suleiman and the Transport Minister Senator Idris Umar r e s p e c t i v e l y h a s undoubtedly put smiles on the faces of the industry’s stakeholders.
Firstly, the enthusiasm shown by Engr. Omar Suleiman on the deep s e a p o r t p r o j e c t a n d achieving the hub status since assumption of office has resurrected the hope of Nigerians in this regards.
Whi le defending the authority’s budget before the National Assembly recently, the NPA boss never minced words when he promised to
attract more vessels to the Nation’s seaports, develop new infrastructure that would make Nigeria the hub for the sub-region.
That was cheering news to stakeholders. It is therefore little wonder that industry watchers have described the Chief Executive of the NPA as the man that possesses the character and will to deliver the deep seaport and hub status on or before 2015.
Similarly, the emphasis placed on the need for deep seaport in the country by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, during his press briefing marking his first 100days in office was another welcome development.
In line with the aspiration of the NPA boss, the transport minister disclosed that the Federal government h a s a p p r o v e d t h e establishment of three deep seaports in Lekki (Lagos State), Ibaka in Akwa Ibom and Olokola in Ondo State, s t r e s s i n g t h a t t h e completion of the project will undoubtedly give the country the much desired hub status for the sub-region.
Reacting to the recent drive for the hub status, a maritime player, Mr. Charles Irabor, Managing Director of Maritime Energy Base seems to expect nothing less as he noted that maritime transportation is a key sector that needs to be developed by the Federal Government.
He, however, noted that the country, as the biggest importer and exporter of cargos in the west and central sub-region, needs at least one deep seaport as a hub for the sub-region, noting that the cargo throughput handled by the country’s seaports hiked from 66.98million metric tons in 2009 to 74.9million metric tons in 2010.
He therefore urged the NPA boss “to see the rapid transformation of the sub-sector so that it will impact positively on cargo handling capacity of the seaport and increase Gross Domestic Product, GDP, during his tenure.
It is now obvious that expectations of stakeholders are high and it behoves on Engr. Suleiman to deliver at least one deep seaport and achieve the hub status for the sub-region.
Container depot
46Freight
THE Council for the Regulation o f F r e i g h t Forwarding in N i g e r i a ,
CRFFN, has threatened its three aggrieved members who leveled allegation of misappropriation of fund against the leadership of the council with expulsion, if they failed to rescind their decision.
The embattled members are: the Council’s Vice C h a i r m a n , D r S a m a Onyemelukwe, Chief Peter Obih and Mr Teddy Ifezue who were suspended in September this year for violating chapter 2, section 19 (1 and 2), which spells out actions that are deemed as misconduct under the Act.
This was the resolution of ththe 14 National Executive
Council Meeting of CRFFN held recently in Abuja. The
Chris OCHAYI & Caleb AYANSINA
T A N D A R D
Organisat ion of SNigeria, SON, and
the National Agency for Food
Drug Administration and
Control, NAFDAC, have
w i t h d r a w n a l l t h e i r
operations at the nation’s
seaports, following an order
by the Federal Government
for them to vacate the ports.
SON decided to vacate the
ports after the management
o f the Niger ian Por t s
Authority, NPA, issued a 14-
day ultimatum to the affected
agencies to leave the ports.
In a letter to the Managing
Director of the NPA, SON’s
Director General, Mr. Joseph
Odumodu, said that the
organization has ceased to
operate at the port since the rd23 of October 2011.
In the letter with reference
n u m b e r
SON/LO/002/VOL111/88, thand dated October 20 2011,
Odumodu said that a circular
has also been sent to its entire
staff and other relevant
authorities operating at the
ports.
The letter read in parts:
“Following the Federal
Government directive on the
above subject issued on the thOctober 10 2011 that some
Agencies including Standard
Organisation of Nigeria
should vacate the ports
within 14 days.
“Kindly find attached a
circular to all staff of the SON
operating in the nation’s
ports to vacate in compliance
with Government order.
“For avoidance of doubt,
commencing from Sunday rdOctober 23 2011, the SON
will cease to operate at the
Ports until any other contrary
directive”
It would be recalled that the
order by government to the
affected agencies created
some controversies, as some
of the agencies refused to
leave the ports saying that
they cannot vacate the ports
based on newspaper reports.
Some stakeholders saw the
development as a welcome
idea, saying that it reduced
the cost of cargo clearance at
the ports.
SON, NAFDAC withdraw operations at ports
Godwin ORITSE
council also set up a committee to monitor and see that the resolutions of the meeting are followed to the letter by the affected members.
Speaking on behalf of the counc i l , Mr. Eugene N we ke , r e p re s e n t i ng South-East Zone, noted that the council will not hesitate to expel the erring members, if they failed to comply with the conditions.
“They leveled allegation of misappropriation of funds against the council before the international body. Since they have made this allegation, the council gives them conditional pardon; it is conditional because they are to retract all the litigation against the Minister of Transport, the CRFFN and its officials.
“They are also ordered to retract all correspondences that they had earlier entered into with the International Federation of Freight Forwarders, FIATA. The council will consider expulsion, if the conditions are not followed”. Nweke said.
He said the council has decided to hold dialogue
wi th the Minis te r o f Transport, Senator Idris Umar, to chart a new course for the council in line with the transformation agenda o f t h e p r e s e n t administration.
It would be recalled that, the trio alleged that the c o u n c i l d i d c o l l e c t N 9 0 m i l l i o n f o r t h e registration exercise. But, the CFRFFN Chairman, Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju, said, “It is false to say that we realized N90Million, when we only registered about 3,800 individuals and a b o u t 8 9 1 c o r p o r a t e members. Each individual paid N5, 000, while the corporate members paid N15, 000; how on earth can this amount to N90million?”
They also claimed that NIMASA gave the council N 1 0 0 m i l l i o n , b u t Olarenwaju maintained that it was N50million and the purpose was spelt out clearly; it was for capacity development.
It is false to say that we realized
N90Million, when we only
registered about 3,800 individuals
and about 891 corporate
members. Each individual paid N5, 000, while the corporate members paid N15, 000; how
on earth can this amount to
N90million?
Ship on the sea
Ferry Ad
48Technology
Natural gas is a fossil fuel made primarily o f
methane, hydrogen and carbon. However, it was not until recently that methods for obtaining this gas, bringing it to the surface, and putting it to use were developed.
I n N i g e r i a , G a s utilization is a primary goal of Nigeria’s petroleum and energy policies. This is because, with a proven reserve of 260 trillion cubic f ee t o f na tu ra l gas , Nigeria’s gas reserve is triple the nation’s crude oil r e s o u r c e s . H i t h e r t o , a s s o c i a t e d g a s encountered during the normal course of oi l product ion has been largely flared. Nigeria is reputed to be the largest gas-flaring country in the w o r l d . B y n o t f u l l y h a r n e s s i n g i t s g a s resources, Nigeria loses an estimated 18.2 million U.S. dollars daily.
Nigeria is the second l a r g e s t p r o d u c e r o f liquefied petroleum gas in Africa, and the sixth largest producer in the world with over 3million metric tones annually. However, current per capita consumption of the gas in Nigeria is about 0.8kg/annum. This is the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa; lower than those of Nigeria’s West Africa neighbours who do not produce the product. Annual LPG consumption is in Nigeria for 2010, was put at 120,000MT, whereas, in Lagos alone, there is a po ten t ia l marke t fo r 1,000,000MT annually.
PropertiesNatural gas is lighter than
air, colorless, odorless and tasteless. For this reason, odorant is added to the gas to make it noticeable and objectionable for safety reasons. Natural gas can be compressed and, therefore, t ransmi t ted in la rge q u a n t i t i e s t h r o u g h relat ively small pipe diameters when under high pressure. Natural gas is primarily composed of methane, although also present are other chemicals such as propane, butane,
Jim-Rex Lawson MOSES
isobutane, pentane and heptane.
A n e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y friendly and efficient energy source, natural gas is the c l e a n e s t - b u r n i n g c o n v e n t i o n a l f u e l , producing lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions than heavier hydrocarbon fuels such as coal and oil.
Important Facts About Natural Gas:
?Flammability range 5% to 15%
?No color, odor or taste?Mercaptan is added for
odor?Nontoxic?Burns with a blue flame?Liquefies at - 200 °F?Heating Value 800 to
1200 BTU’s per cubic footUsesA n e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y
friendly and efficient energy source, natural gas is the c l e a n e s t - b u r n i n g
c o n v e n t i o n a l f u e l , producing lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions than heavier hydrocarbon fuels such as coal and oil. Natural gas fuels electric power generators, heats buildings and is used as a raw material in many consumer products, such as those made of traditional plastics.
The International Energy Agency predicts that the demand for natural gas will grow by approximately 44 percent through 2035.
Domestic useNatural gas dispensed
from a simple stovetop can generate heat in excess of 2000°F (1093°C) making it a powerful domestic cooking and heating fuel. In much of the developed world it is supplied to homes via pipes where it is used for many purposes including natural gas-powered ranges and
ovens, natural gas-heated c l o t h e s d r y e r s , heating/cooling and central heating. Home or other building heating may include boilers, furnaces, a n d w a t e r h e a t e r s . Compressed natural gas (CNG) is used in rural homes without connections to piped-in public utility services, or with portable grills.
Power generationNatural gas is a major
s o u r c e o f e l e c t r i c i t y generation through the use of gas turbines and steam turbines. Most grid peaking power plants and some off-grid engine-generators use natural gas. Natural gas burns more cleanly than other Hydrocarbon fuels, such as oil and coal, and produces less carbon dioxide per unit of energy released.
HydrogenNatural gas can be used to
produce hydrogen, with one common method being the h y d r o g e n r e f o r m e r . H y d r o g e n h a s m a n y applications: it is a primary feedstock for the chemical industry, a hydrogenating a g e n t , a n i m p o r t a n t commodity for oil refineries, and the fuel source in hydrogen vehicles.
TransportationCompressed natural gas is
a cleaner alternative to other automobile fuels such as petrol and diesel. As of 2008 there were 9.6 million n a t u r a l g a s v e h i c l e s worldwide, led by Pakistan (2.0 million), Argentina (1.7 million), Brazil (1.6 million), Iran (1.0 million), and India (650,000).
AviationR u s s i a n a i r c r a f t
manufacturer Tupolev is c u r r e n t l y r u n n i n g a development program to p r o d u c e L N G - a n d hydrogen -powered aircraft. It claims that at current market prices, an LNG-powered aircraft would cost 5,000 roubles (~ $218/ £112) less to operate per ton, roughly equivalent to 60%, w i t h c o n s i d e r a b l e reduc t ions t o ca rbon monoxide , hydrocarbon a n d n i t r o g e n o x i d e emissions
FertilizersNatural gas is a major
feedstock for the production of ammonia , via the Haber process , for use in fertilizer production.
OtherNatural gas is also used in
the manufacture of fabrics , glass , steel , plastics , paint , and other products.
Natural Gas plant Source: Courtesy of Pemex
49
Th e S h e l l
P e t r o l e u m Development Company o f Nigeria Ltd,
SPDC, said, it spent about N9billion on community development projects in the Niger Delta in 2010.The Managing Director of
SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, d i s c l o s e d t h i s a t a Sustainable Development exhibition in Abuja recently. “This is one of the biggest c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l responsibility portfolios operated by a private company in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it shows that we care for the wellbeing of the communities in which we do business.”The event was the first
Sustainable Development Partnership Opportunity
and Exhibition organised by SPDC in Abuja, and the theme was “Power ing Progress Together”. Sunmonu said: “We know
from our work in the Niger Delta, that no single actor c a n m e e t t h e s c a l e , complexity and resources required to respond to the challenges of development in communities. That is why we have inc reas ing ly p a r t n e r e d w i t h o t h e r b u s i n e s s e n t i t i e s , gover nment agenc ies , NGOs and community-based organisations to plan and deliver on our social performance commitments to achieve the desired impact and sustainability.”He c i t ed the G loba l
M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding, GMoU i n i t i a t i v e , w h i c h t h e
company introduced in 2006, as a life-changing opportunity for communities who now choose and implement their projects with funding from SPDC. So
far, SPDC has signed and implemented agreements with 26 clusters, covering 271 communities in Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa states. By the end of 2010, a total of 490 p r o j e c t s h a d b e e n imp lemented th rough GMoUs, with more than $65 million provided as funding.In an address, the Minister
of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder G o d s d a y O r u b e b e , commended SPDC for its GMoU initiative. He said: “ N o o t h e r q u e s t i o n preoccupies the minds of the people of the Niger Delta than rapid development. And peace is the bedrock of all development. Therefore, let this forum mark the beginning of a brighter and more hopeful co-operation and prosperity for the Niger Delta region and Nigeria in general.”
The Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, who chaired the occasion said: “I’ve come all the way from Bayelsa State to associate with the success of the GMoU and other programmes, which I wish could be standard for all Nigerian communities.”Beneficiaries who made
presentations included Mrs. Shade Aderogba who enjoyed all-year round health care including giving birth under the Community Health Insurance Scheme of IA GMoU Cluster, Mercy Chukwudi and Diana Marcus who established businesses with LiveWIRE support as well as Chief I. S. Young-Dede the chairman o f N e m b e C i t y Development Foundation. Chief Young-Dede, who is also the palace secretary of the Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, enthralled the a u d i e n c e w i t h m a n y projects that have been executed including land marine transport, guest house, roads, ICT centre and printing press. He added: “We’ve transformed from being a Cluster to a Foundation capable of attracting support from far and near.”Precious Njoku, a young man got trained as a welder u n d e r t h e G M o U programme, and is now gainfully employed in a big construction company in Port Harcourt. “My story has changed for good,” he declared to the applause of the audience. “It is stories like Precious’s t h a t e n c o u r a g e u s , ” commented Vice President, H e a l t h , S a f e t y a n d Environment, HSE and Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Attah. “We will continue to invest in the wellbeing of our people as we do business in the Niger Delta, and ask other stakeholders including communities themselves to be part of this noble effort.”SPDC had held similar exhibitions in Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Warri and Lagos. The Abuja edition brought t o g e t h e r g o v e r n m e n t officials, diplomats, NGOs a n d d e v e l o p m e n t organisations who thronged the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Memorial Centre and heard testimonies by beneficiaries o f GMoU, L iveWIRE, community health and other life-building programmes.
Road under construction
50
ABUJA – Total U p s t r e a m Companies in Nigeria has a n n o u n c e d
that it is re-branding its a n n u a l T o t a l G o l f Tournament to annual Total Charity Golf Tournament, to reflect the re-engineering of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR philosophy.
The re-branding effort has therefore led to the donation of the sum of N2 million to an Abuja-based orphanage by the company.
D i s c l o s i n g t h i s transformation in the widely-celebrated golf event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Total Upstream Companies, Mr. G u y M a u r i c e , t o l d journalists in Abuja that the change was to increase the impact of Total’s CSR e x p e n d i t u r e o n t h e m a x i m u m n u m b e r o f stakeholders.
He said, “Starting this year, the annual Total Golf Tournament, which is in its 16th year, will now be known as the Annual Total Charity Golf Tournament. While we retain golf tournament as the main event on our corporate sporting calendar, the new concept marries it with CSR convictions by turning it into a charity event.
“We have, therefore , identified City of Refuge Orphanage, an Abuja-based charity, to be the first beneficiary of a token amount that we have raised from this year’s tournament plus Total’s contribution.”
Maurice explained that other characteristics of the re-branded golf tournament are the inclusion of a Pro-Tournament to start some days preceding the main event with reasonable prize money to be shared amongst the five best players within the category of young professional golfers. This, he added, will permit the development of professional go l fe rs as a l te r na t ive employment f o r some youths.
Another change would be the replacement of prizes wi th t rophies , as the purchase money will now be added to entry fees and donated to one chosen charity organization each
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
A Golfer
year. There will also be a request to guest players to contribute to a token amount as playing fees which will be added to the charity fund each year.
According to Maurice, “Our modest contribution today might not be much, but it represents our desire to give back to the society and we call on other corporate organizations to extend the scope and reach of their CSR initiatives to cover our less-privileged stakeholders.”
He noted that the annual Gol f Tour nament was conceived to bring keen golfers, friends and business associates together for a day o f f u n a n d i n f o r m a l interaction, which is usually rounded off with an exciting awards ceremony.
H e a d d e d t h a t t h e
tournament has provided an
o p p o r t u n i t y f o r s o m e
participants to network and
hone their golfing skills. “For
others, the event has further
deepened our interest in the
exciting world of golf and its
limitless possibilities. But most
importantly, as true lovers of
the sport, we know that the
beauty of the tournament is not
just in winning but in
participating,” he added.
Total Upstream in Nigeria is
a subsidiary of the Total Group
of Companies. Total is the
fourth largest oil and gas
company in the world with
operations in more than 100
count r i e s . The g roup ’ s
activities span all aspects of
the energy industry, from oil
and gas exploration and
production to downstream
refining and marketing of oil
and gas products.
A R R I - L A N D
s p e c u l a t o r s i n WOsubi community
in Okpe council area of Delta
State have sold large portions of
the land granted to the Delta
State Government by the Shell
Pe t r o l e u m D e v e l o p m e n t
Company, SPDC, for the
expansion of the Osubi Airstrip.
Former Special Adviser to
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan
on Land Security, Chief Sherrif
Oborovwori, disclosed this to
Sweetcrude recently, warning
those building on the land to
desist in their own interest as the
government is sure to pull down
such buildings at the appropriate
time.
He said the community is
desirous of assisting the state
Emma ARUBI government to see the project
through and expressed regret
that those buying the land and
b u i l d i n g o n i t a r e
non–indigenes and they are
sure to lose their money and
homes as they would never be
given any Certi f icate of
Occupancy.
T h e O s u b i c o m m u n i t y
Chairman, Comrade Igho
Omatagiren, told Sweetcrude
that a large portion of the land
has been fraudulently sold to
unsuspecting buyers and the
sales is still on-going. He
further revealed that sand
miners are also not giving the
government land any breathing
space either as they have
embarked on aggressive mining
of the land for their personal
benefits.
51
Th e K E F F E S h o s t communities, an acronym for Koluama I & II,
Ekeni, Fish Town, Foropa, Ezetu I &II and Sangana located on the Atlantic fringe of Southern Ijaw and Brass local government areas of Bayelsa State had cause to celebrate last month, when Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, unveiled projects worth N482m in their domain.
The projects sited in these far flung communities which are been taken for granted in the more fortunate urban settlements, could best be described as luxury for the people of the backward settlements.
In spite of their location in the deep mangrove swamp of the delta, and enormous tourism potentials, these oil rich but backward fishing settlements lacks both state and federal presence.
Most of the natives are sea farers whose immediate neighbours are the alluring sea and oil manifold, platform and gas flare furnace.
Though the communities are strategically located in the deep swampy mangrove with enormous potentials, i f properly harnessed could have made them a tourist’s destination and source of income to the state and also boost the economy of the local populace.
But sadly, the communities are yet to be linked by road and could only be accessed by water with the result that the natives, most times, prefer to travel to Gabon for business due to its proximity to Yenagoa.
The cottage hospitals at Ezetu 1, Foropa, Koluama 1, and Sangana communities which were built some ten years ago to serve the natives had remained non -functional till date, with result that they are compelled to journey on the turbulent sea to Yenagoa and neighboring Warri to seek for proper medical attention when the need arises.
I t w a s t h e r e f o r e n o t surprising when the people of the these pre-dominantly fishing settlements, Thursday abandoned their sole trade to witness the inauguration of projects such as teachers’ quarters bui lding with complete furniture, potable water projects, public toilets,
Samuel OYADONGHA
Medical attention
concre te foo t b r idges , community rest house, installation of transformers, concrete jetty and renovated primary school buildings executed by the Keffes Rural Development Foundation, o n e o f t h e R e g i o n a l Development Committees under the Chevron Global M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding, GMoU.
Speaking at the occasion, the Paramount Ruler of Ezetu Pennington Kingdom, King I. N . I g b o u s a - O d u o X , described the commissioning as a concrete and significant leap in the history of company’s operations in the KEFFES host communities.
Describing the projects as y e t a n o t h e r ‘ v i s i b l e expression of commitment of Chevron to the existing cordial relationship with its host communities, he said, “the GMoU model itself,
which could be seen as a rebirth of the new Community Relations Approach, has yielded yet another visible expression of the commitment of CNL and her KEFFES host communities that we are witnessing here today and by implicat ion, creat ing a p e a c e f u l b u s i n e s s environment for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders.”
“We seize this opportunity to c o n v e y t h e w a r m a n d appreciative feelings of the people of the KEFFES communities for this great milestone. This milestone is reached as a result of our communities’ commitment to maintain peace in order to a c h i e v e s u s t a i n a b l e infrastructural development that is relevant to our peoples’ need.”
He lamented the near absence of government in t h e c o m m u n i t i e s a n d
pleaded with the authorities to invest more in the communities given their disadvantaged position in t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f development projects.
In h i s remarks , the chairman of KEFFES Rural Development Foundation, Mr. Christopher Tuduo, commended Chevron for bankrolling the projects even as he called for increase funding to enable the foundation embark on more development projects that would benefit the communities.
He also called for greater state government and Niger D e l t a D e v e l o p m e n t Commission participation in the funding of development projects in the area.
Inaugurating the projects, Chevron General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Mr. Femi
O d u m a b o , s a i d t h e successful implementation of the projects reinforces the G M o U C o m m u n i t y Engagement model as a vehicle for sustainable s o c i o - e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t i n communities around its operations.
Represented by Elijah Ebikikoro, GMoU Team Lead for Keffes, Odumabo, said, the successes recorded in the implementation of the GMoU in Keffes and in other c l u s t e r s c o m m u n i t i e s bordering our operations in the Delta region have shown that with support, the communities can drive their development process.”
He described as immense the socio -economic benefits of the community driven GMoU saying, “as a result of the efforts to date, a value chain is coming together.
52
Th e t i n y
settlement of Ikarama, one of t h e s e v e r a l communities in
Okordia clan in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State, may not be known to many people given its location and rustic out look. Yet, Ikarama is one of the several oil and gas rich communities in the state which very existence is being threatened by incessant oil spills and fire outbreak due to exploration activities.
Over the years, the natives of th is serene community located on the bank of the Taylor Creek, who are predominantly farmers and fishermen, have had to contend with oil spills and fire
Samuel OYADONGHA out break leading to the scorching of their farmland as well as the pollution of their creek which not only serve as their source of water, but also their means of livelihood.
S W E E T C R U D E investigations, revealed that the community had suffered no fewer than twelve oil spills and two fire outbreaks in the last four weeks, most of which are believed to have been sabotage and few others blamed on corrosion.
A first time visitor to this rustic community will be taken aback by the several p a t c h e s o f s c o r c h e d vegetation as against the luxuriant vegetation the rainforest is known for as well as crude oil soaked land when travelling from the Mbiama flank.
Also dead water snails and
fishes could be seen littering the impacted environment and floating in the pond while the spilt crude oil could be seen in large volumes in certain sections of the swamp and pond.
Penultimate week, this rustic agrarian settlement was gripped in fear when an oil spill from a facility owned by the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, resulted in wild fire.
Though no life was lost in the inferno, the oil major was forced to shut in production.
The natives had claimed that they noticed a fresh crude oil spill the previous day along the Okordia/Rumuekpe line, less than 200 metres from the Okrodia Manifold which must have triggered the huge inferno..
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant r e s p o n d e d s w i f t l y b y deploying fire fighters to the scene of the raging inferno and succeeded in containing it.
While the natives had insisted the cause of spill was not as a result of third party interference and that it was corrosion, an industry source alleged that the spill was caused by illegal third party interference (sabotage).
Just as the people are trying to pick the pieces of their lives a n d f o r g e a h e a d , t h e c o m m u n i t y w a s a g a i n engulfed by inferno around an impacted swamp from an old spill which had not been cleaned up.
The cause of the latest inferno said to have occurred Wednesday afternoon at about 5.00pm could not be immediately ascertained as according to a native who simply gave his name as John, “we only heard a loud bang not knowing it was fire out break from a Shell facility.
Oil Spillage
A R R I -
TRADITIONAL WRulers in Uvwie,
Udu, Ughelli South and
Agbarha-Warri kingdom have
appealed to the Delta State
O i l p r o d u c i n g A r e a s
Development Commission
(DESOPADEC) to complete
all ongoing projects in their
domains.
The traditional rulers made
the appeal during the visit of
t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r
representing Uvwie, Udu,
Ughelli South and Urhobos in
Warri in the board of
DESOPADEC, evangelist
Johnson Boro to their various
palaces which was described
as historic and encouraging.
At the palace of the Ovie of
Uvwie, HRM Emmanuel
Sideso (JP) OON, Abe the
first, the Monarch lauded the
visit of the DESOPADEC
Commissioner describing it
as the first of its kind.
The Royal Father who spoke
through Chief Tuesday
Onoge, President General,
Uvwie General Improvement
union (UGIU) highlighted
some areas of need of Uvwie
people.
Earlier in his speech, the
C o m m i s s i o n e r i n
DESOPADEC, Evangelist
Johnson Boro told the Uvwie
Monarch and his Council of
Chiefs (Ogwedion) that he
was in the palace of the Ovie
of Uvwie to seek for royal
blessing, support and to
brainstorm on the way
forward for oil communities
in the area as directed by the
State executive governor, Dr.
E m m a n u e l E w e t a n
Uduaghan.
The story was the same at
the Palace of the Ovie of
Agbarha Kingdom as the
DESOPADEC Commissioner
was guest to Orhifi Ememoh
II,the traditional ruler of the
kingdom.
T h e A g b a r h a - Wa r r i
paramount ruler whose
address was presented by one
o f t h e p a l a c e C h i e f s ,
expressed happiness that the
visit of Evangelist Johnson
Boro will turn the fortunes of
the Urhobos in Warri for the
better.
Traditional rulers decry abandoned projects
Emma ARUBI
53
WA R R I -
T H E
e l d e r s
a n d
leaders of
Ugborodo community in Warri
South-West council area of
D e l t a S t a t e , S u n d a y
dethroned its community head
(Eghare-Aja), Pa. Wellington
Ojogor and installed Pa.
Pender Nene as the new
Eghare-Aja at the Ode-
Ugborodo, their ancestral
home.
Similarly, the people have
appealed to the National
Assembly to pay an official
working visit to the erosion
ravaged oil-rich Ugborodo
community, major host to
Chevron operations in West
Africa to enable them see, first
hand, the damages being
wrecked on their communities
by the vagaries of the Atlantic,
saying that the House of
Representatives Committee
m e m b e r s t h a t v i s i t e d
U g b o r o d o o n F r i d a y ,
November 11, 2011 did not
step out of their boats to meet
or see the people and the
a b a n d o n e d s h o r e l i n e
protection job to appreciate
… Request legislative intervention
Emma ARUBI
the enormity of their plight.
Ugborodo Community Trust
Vice-Chairman, Mr. Isaac
Botosan, who spoke to
Sweetcrude on the installation
of Pa. Pender Nene as the new
Eghare-Aja, said the elders
skillfully played them out of
the installation scheme to
forestal the leakage of
information to the public,
because the youths have
sometime in September
frustrated their plan.
He expressed regret that the
former Eghare-Aja , Pa.
Wellington Ojogor has for
some time abandoned the
community and ran to Warri
while Pa. Pender has been
performing his traditional
duties.
Pa. Ojogor was alleged to
have been whisked away from
Ugborodo in a commando-like
style by security men in
company of some of his
children on August 26 and has
since not returned after over 90
days.
Pa. Wyne W. Agba who
performed the traditional rites
of installation in a brief
ceremony according to Mr.
Isaac Botosan, stated that
Ugborodo cus toms and
traditional duties as assigned
to Pa. Ojogor was suffering and
the situation needed to be
urgently corrected especially
as the year runs to an end,
saying that the people have
elected their head and so it
shall be.
Pa. Wyne Agba therefore
called on al l Ugborodo
i n d i g e n e s , g o v e r n m e n t
agencies, security agencies, oil
m a j o r s a n d s e r v i c i n g
companies operating in
Ugborodo land to accord Pa.
Wyne Agba all the due
privileges of the his new office.
Speaking to Sweetcrude on
w h y t h e H o u s e o f
Representative team that
visited Ugborodo did not come
down to the community to meet
the people, see and inspect the
abandoned shore protection
project in the community, the
Member representing the
Warri Federal Constituency in
the team, Hon. Dan Reyenieju
said there was no need for that
as they had a very good view of
the effects of sea erosion on
Ugborodo land from their
boats, saying that he was not
out to play politics with the
assignment.
He stated that he was
determined to ensure that the
shore protection project enters
the 2012 budget by bringing
the House members to see
things for themselves.
The Legislators in section
A R R I - A Delta State High Court W
sitting at Otor-Udu has ordered the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons at t h e O g w a s h i - U k u prisons, to produce before it, the Managing Director of Mustard Seed M i c r o - I n v e s t m e n t Limited, Pastor Glory Abrefera, detained over alleged N42.5million fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The court presided over by Hon. Justice (Mrs) Azinge, also threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the Deputy Comptroller. if he fails to produce the wonder bank chief on the next a d j o u r n e d d a t e o f November 28, 2011.
This order follows failure by the prison authorities to produce the bank chief on two previous occasions as ordered by the court on S e p t e m b e r 2 6 a n d November 9 respectively in blatant disregard to court orders.
T h r e e a g g r i e v e d c u s t o m e r s o f t h e investment scheme had petitioned the EFCC that led to his arrest and a r r a i g n m e n t a n d d e t e n t i o n s i n c e December last year at the Okere prisons from where he was moved to t h e O g w a s h i - U k u prisons.
All his known business outfits and eateries in Delta state has been sealed-up by the EFCC until recently when they were re-opened for o p e r a t i o n s w h e r e payments are made into a special account.
Court orders prisons to produce suspect
Emma ARUBI
54
For indigenes of Ezetu I, Foropa, Koluama I and Sangana on the Atlantic fringe
of Southern Ijaw and Brass local government areas of Bayelsa State this is certainly not the best of time given the speed at which they are losing their ancestral land.
Unless urgent remedial steps are taken, these serene rural fishing settlements which tourism potentials if properly harnessed could turn out to be money spinner for the state government might be lost to the surging sea.
Sweet Crude gathered from the troubled natives that these oil and gas rich enclave had over the years lost a substantial part of i ts landmass to the sea.
Sadly, these communities which are oil and gas rich and h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d significantly to the revenue profile of the country and Bayelsa State are lacking both state and federal government presence except for few Nigerian soldiers manning oil facilities in the deep swamp.
The only vest iges of development in the area are projects put in place by Chevron Nigeria Limited t h r o u g h t h e G l o b a l M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding (GMoU) it entered into with the host communities.
Sweet Crude investigation revealed that coastal erosion menace is not limited to the a b o v e m e n t i o n e d
Samuel OYADONGHA
communities alone as there are several others along the Atlantic shore facing the same dilemma.
An indigene of Koluama, who simply identi f ied himself as Omie John recalled how the entire community was submerged some decades ago forcing them to migrate to their present abode.
According to him, the site w h e r e t h e o f f s h o r e Pennington platform is presented located was once on a dry land.
Aside the coastal erosion t h r e a t e n i n g t h e v e r y existence of the hapless natives’ investigation further revealed that they are also contending with the absence of health facilities to cater for their health needs.
Surprisingly, Chevron it was learnt had remained the only source of development agent for the natives as witnessed recently when it commissioned projects ranging from teachers quarters building, potable water projects, public toilets, concrete foot br idges, community rest house, installation of transformers, concrete jetty and renovation of primary school buildings in the communities.
The projects estimated at N482m were executed by the Keffes Rural Development Foundation, one of the Regional Development Committees under the c o m p a n y G l o b a l M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding (GMoU).
Corroborating Sweet Crude
finding, the Paramount Ruler o f E z e t u - P e n n i n g t o n Kingdom, King I.N Igbousa Oduo X described the coastal erosion menace as worrisome and called on the federal/state governments and other relevant agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to come to the aid of the communities.
The royal father noted that apart from putting in place control measures to combat the ocean threat he also called for the construction internal road and drainage network to stem the threat.
His words, “some key challenges confronting our communities include the threat of erosion, lack of health facilities to cater for our health needs.
Peaceful protesters
ARRI - AS dare-devil robbers Wcontinue their
onslaught on residents of the oil city of Warri, Delta state, two workers of the Vanguard Media Limited office, escaped death by the whiskers as a stray bullet in a gun duel with policemen pierced through one of the offices and landed at the office of the regional editor.
The robbers, who wore Mobile Police uniforms, engaged the Police from the JJC Ginuwa axis of the road directly facing Vanguard office, thus forcing the workers to lie flat on their stomach to avoid being hit by stray bullet.
The incident which held traffic to a standstill for more than 30minutes along the ever busy Warri /Sapele road brought out the Mobile P o l i c e m e n c l o s e t o Vanguard office on guard duty at a new generation bank into the major road, to scare off the robbers from gaining entrance from their JJC road position.
Vanguard gathered that, when it became obvious to the thieves that they could neither go back or forth in their escape bid due to security cordon, they melted into the Agbarha community area causing residents to scamper for their dear lives.
The security agents later drove into the Ukpokiti outlet of the area in their bid to fish out the runaway robbers without success.
Meanwhile, the Vanguard workers, namely Mirabel and Nelly said they would organize a Thanksgiving service to God to celebrate their being alive to tell the story of the ugly incident.
Incidences of bare-faced day l igh t robber y has become the in-thing in Warri recently in view of the coming Yuletide festivities, even as the mother of the Delta State Commissioner for oil and gas, Madam G b u b e m i w h o w a s kidnapped Sunday morning was released Wednesday morning without ransom following the capture of some persons related to the suspected kidnappers.
Emma ARUBI
55The
WA R R I -
T H E I t s e k i r i a n d U r h o b o
ethnic nationalities in Delta State yesterday task the board and management of the state oil intervention agency, DESOPADEC on ensuring that all projects awarded in their mandate areas are executed to the letters.
They also charged the Commission to ensure that only projects whose cash allocation is readily available are awarded to enable the contractors to mobilize to site for job execution, saying that where jobs are awarded to a known community contractor who declines to mobilize to site due to lack of mobilization fees, the communities readily ho lds tha t con t rac to r s responsible for undue delays in job execution.
Both ethnic nationalities made these remarks at the DESOPADEC Town Hall meetings held for the Urhobos of Delta Central and Itsekiris of Delta South district at the Wellington hotel, Effurun and the Mismate hall at Chief Eyewoma residence, Esisi road, Warri.
Itsekiri, Urhobo task DESOPADEC on projects completion
Emma ARUBI
They stated that job abandonment is a function of lack of funding from the Agency with banks not willing to finance such project due to DESOPADEC failure to honour their financial obligations to their contractors.
One of the women argued that women can be easily empowered with little cash loan to set up their business and even trained through vocational centres while the youths should be trained at skills acquisitions centres for
various trades.Pres ident o f I t seki r i
Development Association, IDA, Comrade Newuwumi Omolubi, on his part advised the Commission to drop all Engineers monitoring and issuing certificate of job completion for jobs not executed in the Itsekiri areas, even as he charged the Commission to dismiss any staff of the agency deployed to Itsekiris rural areas that declines to resume work.
He said what the Itsekiris needed most was land reclamation in their areas.
President of the Itsekiri Natioanl Youth Congress, INYC, Hon. David Tonwe warned that any contractor that further defaults on project execution in Itsekiri land would have his contract terminated henceforth.
C h a i r m a n o f DESOPADEC, Mr. Kpogho assured the people that all their submission are well t a k e n , n o t i n g t h a t commission was desirous of getting their input into the 2012 budget in a bottom –up manner to ensure that only projects requested by the various ethnic groups are awarded to them as legacy projects.
Water project
Job abandonment is
a function of lack of funding
from the Agency with banks not
willing to finance such project due to DESOPADEC
failure to honour their
financial obligations to
their contractors
I remember how as a young teenager I was caught
within the grips of what my friends and I now call
the “Kodendiara effect.” It was Camara Laye, the
author of “The African Child,” who introduced our
young African minds to the delicious mystery of
Kodendiara. Although in Ijawland newly born males are
circumcised on the eighth day after their birth, we longed to
have the more traumatic Guinean version which was
performed between the ages of twelve and fourteen, in order
for us to experience a real coming into manhood with an
inevitable meeting with the legendary Kodendiara. Laye
depicted an Africa of rolling hills, lush meadows and
unspoilt glades, an Africa far less developed than the
Europe of the 1950s but nevertheless a much beloved Africa.
The Africa of Camara Laye was going through a process of
changes that appear to have scarred her deeply. Having
been weaned of the unwholesome practices (cannibalism,
piracy, slavery and schism) that almost destroyed them,
European societies had imbibed civilisation but still had
needs for expanding their pretentious empires. Upon the
invitation of Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor and
statesman, the ‘civilised world’ as it was then constituted
(the United States opting out) met up in Berlin and
partitioned Africa into spheres of influence for the signatory
countries. With a few exceptions such as South Africa and
apart from the violence required at the points of entry to
quell dissent against occupation, violence by colonialists
within the African continent was rare and subtle even when
applied. Laye’s Conakry was an idyllic society where
Africans and Europeans co-existed in a predictable and
mutually acceptable pattern with the available
infrastructure sparse but also curiously sufficient for the
populace. But that was the turning point, the moment of
great changes for Africa; the continent peopled by dark skin
natives were about to be liberated by her own.
In form the African people have been liberated but the
substance of their existence show they have need for further
liberation, this time, from their own kind. Apart from Ghana
and South Africa, the societies of Africa are governed by
political interest groups that mock and force the will of the
people. It is very simple logic that leaders whose
performances are not reviewed through the ballot do not
pursue or advance the preferences of the ballot and the
ballot can only attract obeisance where it is effective. The
political activists of Laye’s generation took much for
granted; they trusted in the inherent goodness of the African
to his fellows. There were hardly any futuristic plans to
develop the political structures of the societies created by
the colonialists, with the result that new interest groups with
intents not different from the conferees at Berlin in 1884,
hijacked power for their selfish interests. The direct
implication of the logic of a weak ballot is the failure of the
society.
The gullies on our roads, our inability to generate
sufficient energy for our technological advancement, the
insecurity on our streets, the slums and unplanned dwelling
places, the unwholesome practices of regulatory agencies
and the sharp reduction in life expectancy in our societies
are all traceable to weak ballots. In Nigeria’s last elections,
eligible voters were accredited and told to queue up again to
vote. After the accreditation, no one taking the toll of
accredited voters, corrupt electoral officers enter
accreditation for voters who did not turn up to vote and cast
votes for them. The moral behind the Obasanjo-Bello failure
is that even those who design a system of electoral fraud can
become victims of the system with time.
We can still do it right and justify Camara Laye’s
generation’s trust in the intrinsic goodness of the African to
his fellows so that even though we may not bring back those
green hills, meadows and glades that was the Africa of yore,
we can live in orderly, predictable and safe societies in
which Kodendiara will only be invoked to chastise errant
behaviour in the young.
Developing our societies through qualitative democratic culture
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